[mebnandtrn]

We have always borrowed a ram for our 10 ewes but for various reasons are considering getting our own ram. We have enough space and grass for him, but the field layout means he will often be in a field next door to the ewes. Will he try to break through a stock fence? It’s newly installed but still don’t want it trashing. Will keep him with a second boy, so he won’t be lonely. Thoughts appreciated.

[SallyintNorth]

Our Nigel (Shetland) would wear himself out if kept that close to girls.  And yes would challenge the fencing and gates mercilessly.  He's polled so can't cause the amount of damage a horned tup's headgear would, but over time he would loosen fencing for sure. 

Would you be able to split one or both of the fields, so that you always had some empty space between the boys and the girls?

We keep our tup with a minimum of 2 wethers (usually 3 or 4), because tups can spend a lot of time on their own, patrolling and scenting for opportunities to work.  So then a sole wether companion is left on his own.  If you have 2 or more wethers, they still have company even if the tup is off on a solo mission. 

I don't know if you need the tup to be a specific breed, but if not, I would look for something polled and lazy.  Texel or Beltex if you want chunky lambs, or maybe others can recommend other polled breeds where the tups watch telly and drink lager for 48 weeks of the year, rather than seek work constantly.

(We wouldn't swap our Nigel Ever Ready Golden Balls for a gold pig, but he does take a bit of looking after because of his work ethic!) 

[Richmond]

Better that they have a bit of distance between them. Ours has broken through before now. Can you fence a second strip parallel to the party fence so there are two fences between him and the ewes? If not enough room to create a small central paddock then maybe a shelter belt with a few trees planted within?

Our ram only goes in with the ewes for a few weeks - due to our paddock layout the ewes go to him and then we take the ewes away again once we're certain they've stopped cycling. He has a couple of wethers for company. Our sheep are a mixture of Soay and Wiltshire Horn, so all horned and will bash the fences - even the ewes do it, not just the boys.

[Anke]

Yes our Shetland has broken the fence when constantly ramming the post, when in a field next to girls in autumn. Perfectly fine (with a couple of wethers for company) at other times of the year. I don't know if other breeds are as aggressive. Horns don't help at all...


I have also found that the tups get very aggressive towards mid-winter - when I start feeding the ewes some concentrates, and tup not only rams into the ewes but also into my legs if I am not careful. So we always take them out at Xmas at the very latest, and preferably move them across the road (but by that time they are also usually ok in the next field), or if I find they are just too pushy they go into our freezer then.


I have for the time being though, given up on breeding my sheep, just keep wethers and the ewes to provide mutton over the next few years... (famous last words).

[SallyintNorth]

Our Nigel is a pedigree Shetland, but he has no "off" season.  He had sired August and October lambs before I discovered this...  On an Icelandic / Shetland / Texel mix and a pedigree Wensleydale (August lambs in both cases) and a pure Manx Loaghtan (October lamb.)  So unless all your girls are kept lambing every year, personally I would not bank on any tup having no interest in sex come springtime...  

[twizzel]

Like the others have said, my rams are out of sight of the ewes for 46 weeks of the year    I’d not keep them next to the ewes, they need distance really. 

[Richmond]

Our Nigel is a pedigree Shetland, but he has no "off" season.  He had sired August and October lambs before I discovered this...  On an Icelandic / Shetland / Texel mix and a pedigree Wensleydale (August lambs in both cases) and a pure Manx Loaghtan (October lamb.)  So unless all your girls are kept lambing every year, personally I would not bank on any tup having no interest in sex come springtime...

Our Soay ram is definitely interested all year round! He's constantly sniffing the wethers just to see if they've magically changed sex overnight!

[Nelson International]

It sounds like if you've got the land you'd be best keeping them out of sight, but we kept a pair of Welsh mountain rams next to our ewes for a 2 or 3 years, and the only oops moment was when the neighbour's ram lamb broke in. They were purchased as lambs,  they were never that fussed about getting in but still got the job done come November

[Buttermilk]

One of my Zwartbles managed to get two ewe lambs up the duff through a stock wire fence this last winter.  There was no challenging the fence and the first we knew of the deed was a lamb in the field at Easter.  We lambed the ewes in February.

[Fleecewife]

One of my Zwartbles managed to get two ewe lambs up the duff through a stock wire fence this last winter.  There was no challenging the fence and the first we knew of the deed was a lamb in the field at Easter.  We lambed the ewes in February.

Yes, we've heard of the 'through the fence' jamboree but never seen it in action  .

Don't forget too that tups of many breeds can jump a fence with ease, then hop back to their own side once they've done the deed.  We are lucky in that all males here live on the opposite side of the road, from August onwards for lambs, all year bar tupping time for stock tups. At tupping time we try to keep tupping groups diagonally opposite ewes not for breeding. When in the past we have had up to 9 different tupping groups it's been mayhem with smashed and bashed fences. We found running a strand of electric wire with a battery energiser at nose height along the side of the fence stopped all but the most het up tup. You can buy spacers that hold the wire away from the fence by about a foot.  That would probably work to keep a tup away from your ewes but it wouldn't stop him from pacing the fence line endlessly.