Author Topic: Lonely Shetland Ram (Read 1616 times)

minibn · « **on:** December 30, 2019, 08:50:26 pm »

Hi,

I have a 7yo Shetland Ram. I lost his friend Hugo on Friday, as he had broken his shoulder and had to be pts.

He is currently out in a field with a friends horse and has goats as neighbours. My horses generally pick on him a bit. I worried about him being lonely, so potentially looking at getting a couple more sheep to keep him company.

I was wondering what to get. I don't think I want ewes as don't need any lambs, but don't want to get rams as the last lot, specifically Ted who is left is pretty bosterious and likes to chace and headbut, unless you have a stick with you.

Therefore I was debating getting a couple of castrated males. Would this work? Also Ted has an impressive set of horns, would I need to get others with horns?

Or is there anyone who I could loan a couple of sheep from, if that is actually a thing?

Thank you for reading

Regards

Emily

cambee · « **Reply #1 on:** December 30, 2019, 09:01:36 pm »

Hi we are relatively novice sheep keepers (4 years) but we have had a ram all that time and he is currently with his third mate (wether/ castrated male). We have never had any trouble introducing a castrate to him as he soon asserts his dominance and that’s that. Within a couple of days they’re best mates. Not sure about the horns though as mine have none. The wether has always been younger and the same breed as the ram. You can normally pick a wether lamb up fairly cheap compared to buying a ram or ewe.

Anke · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2019, 10:07:50 pm »

I would get a couple of castrated lambs from last spring - they are small enough to not challenge him, and I have never found that the wethers not having horns causes any problems. Just make sure they are properly wethered (Shetlands will have god sized horns if not castrated completely). I have Shetlands too. If your tup is white I would stay with white companions, when I had a black tup he chased the white wethers badly.

Fleecewife · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2019, 10:24:27 pm »

As Anke says. Be sure to get two wethers not one. Being realistic your current tup will not last many more years so if both wethers survive, they will each have a pal once the old boy goes. Expect your older tup to mount the wethers, this is perfectly normal.
See my avatar to show the horns we have here, which have never been a problem with our two Shetland wethers. We keep those wethers for their wonderful fine fleeces as I am a hand spinner - this could be a chance for you to produce some great fleeces, either for sale or to work yourself. If so, choose the wethers for their top fleece quality, not just because they are the first wethers available. Our wethers also help to keep the peace between our 4 Multihorned Hebridean stock tups.

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2019, 11:02:04 pm »

The entire male will be the boss of any wethers, so I don’t think horned or not horned will be an issue.

It’s been my experience that an adult tup ignores wether lambs, so if you can source some adult wethers that would work better. But wether lambs - or wether hoggs as they will be after tomorrow! - will be better than nothing.

Gratuitous pic of Skyhawk, my Romney x Wensleydale tup, with his best bud Mr Pie, my senior wether. If those fleeces don’t make you drool...

shep53 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 31, 2019, 10:08:14 am »

Interesting that no one has commented about the fact that minibn has to carry a stick when around the ram !!!

twizzel · « **Reply #6 on:** December 31, 2019, 10:22:42 am »

If you can’t go in the field without a stick then get the ram gone before he hurts someone. I have a ram like this and he won’t see another tupping season. At the moment he is keeping my other ram company and manageable for a few more months until we buy his replacement, but long term I won’t stand for a bolshy ram.

shep53 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 31, 2019, 10:40:54 am »

In my 50 yrs working with hundreds of rams ( up to 30 in a mature group ) including many hill breeds with horns ,I have only once felt scared enough to carry a stick and that was a texel x reared by a smallholder and even though he was only a shearling he went for kebabs as soon as he was finished working . I would suspect the wether had a broken shoulder because the ram hit him ( had a ram in a group of 3 with a broken shoulder while tupping ewes and saw the aggressor trying to kill the remaining ram )

Fleecewife · « **Reply #8 on:** December 31, 2019, 12:14:57 pm »

Quote from: shep53 on December 31, 2019, 10:08:14 am

Interesting that no one has commented about the fact that minibn has to carry a stick when around the ram !!!

I missed that! He's a danger to you and to your neighbour's horses, no question. I see no point in keeping a dangerous animal, especially as he appears to be a pet. Aggressive tups have no place here, and they only get worse, so I withdraw my advice to get companions for him, and I suggest that you take this opportunity to let him go - either ask the vet to do it, or the knackerman.
I have never used a stick against a sheep, other than to hold it above my head so I appear to have bigger horns than he does. I don't think a stick helps and can maybe even incite aggression. A tup without a job is a frustrated tup too, and will see you as a potential mate, hence trying to round you up and dominate you. Was he bottle reared? As Mr F says " a lady has no secrets from a tup"