[SallyintNorth]

Sound advice above! Remember more people are killed by rams than by bulls

Really?  Not dissing you wollyval - but that sounds like an urban myth to me - where you got that from?

[woollyval]

Apparently its true and not an urban myth! Rams often break a femur (sp) or hip bone and once a person is down in a cold and isolated spot.......
Having been felled by a charging ram twice I can well believe it!

[Fleecewife]

I understand this to be true too.  Some of the reasons could include that there are probably far more tups than bulls around, and that sheep can easily jump to head height and knock a person flying.  Then there's being pushed over a cliff by a flock of hungry sheep on your quad bike.....

[feldar]

Please don't pet him it will make him worse and a ram who has no human respect can be lethal if not for you but you may sell him on. We never keep orphan rams and rarely pet or fuss our breeder rams.I agree with Fleecewife, separate him out.
We had a ram who was very protective towards his ewes especially near to lambing, it's no fun when they headbutt you.
Our worst ram was a Llanwenog that you couldn't get near. The little B*****d would chase and kneecap you when you were looking the other way!!! then bolt off up the field!

[Fieldfare]

I am also a bit concerned about having a ram about the place so what I decided to do is get a ram lamb- allow him to tup- and at any point in the future he 'goes for me'  (which would happen before he is properly full grown and more dangerous) he gets taken to the abbatoir and popped in the freezer...zero tolerance! The next autumn get another ram lamb etc. etc. until I eventually find one that is fine. Alternatively I may think about routinely culling the 'lamb tup' and keeping one of my own entire ram lambs (only problem is mating with his mother or sisters if kept- but for one generation surely not a problem). In this way one doesn't actually need to house an adult ram...one less mouth to feed...and a freezer full of meat

Everyone a winner with this strategy?

[SallyintNorth]

Well, I've been felled three times by tups.  Twice by the same greedy Blue-faced Leicester; a sweetheart unless you are holding a bucket of food that he thinks should be on the ground with his head in it!  Back damage, I don't think it'll ever be quite right...  Once by an adult Swaledale, new to our farm, my own silly fault (I have told the story on here before, I think) - but I really did think my femur was broken, I was a mile from the farm on desolate moorland with night coming in, my mobile phone packed up because of the icy water it and I was in...  thankfully I did manage to drag myself back to the farm and nothing was in fact broken - but it is about as scared with livestock as I have been or wish to be.

Oh, and our current gentle Charollais tup - was a greedy, bolshy, pushy boy as a ram lamb but now is respect itself.

[Dizzycow]

Bloody hell, Sally. That's a bit scary.

[dyedinthewool]

Oh, and our current gentle Charollais tup - was a greedy, bolshy, pushy boy as a ram lamb but now is respect itself.

Sally how did you get him to be so well behaved?

Thanks to all of you for your imput it has be very interesting and has helped me sortof make up my mind about what to do.

Regrettable I think he will have to go as my ram lambs are all due to go in the next  week or so either to market or into my freezer so I have nothing to turn him out with - and the fields are like bogs with all the rain, so need the rest ready for the spring grass.

I think Fieldfare is right and maybe I should buy in a tup each year and sell at the end so i wouldn't have this problem - it's just he's a nice ram but boys are boys and I can't afford the risk of being knocked about like Sally.

I know now is not the time to sell him as a Ram so it will be the chop for him - but at least he has had a longer life than he would have if I had not bought him back in August.  He was only £65 then and would have gone for slaughter.

[SallyintNorth]

Bloody hell, Sally. That's a bit scary.

Well, it was, DC - thanks for the empathy!  But the Swaledale deadleg incident was my own fault.  And with the BFL - well, it just highlights that you really should not ever turn your back on any tup, however well you think you know him.

Oh, and our current gentle Charollais tup - was a greedy, bolshy, pushy boy as a ram lamb but now is respect itself.

Sally how did you get him to be so well behaved?

Well, I think he just grew up - but I'll check with BH in case there's something I don't know... 

[Sylvia]

I don't think you can make a ram gentle, they either are or they're not. You can get them to respect you, up to a point but fighting with them won't work..........they will win

[feldar]

Just as a point of interest it was an in-lamb ewe that broke my nose when she jumped at me, when i was trying to catch her..... so ALL sheep can be potentially dangerous. Farming is a dangerous job but we still do it ....must be love i think

[SallyintNorth]

Oh - aye, I've had a black eye from a Texel ewe didn't want to be clipped and launched herself away from the chute up to the clipping platform.  I saw stars!

Aye, love it must be.  It sure ain't money or fame!

[Hazelwood Flock]

I had a young ewe kick the electric clippers out of my hand straight into my face whilst I was shearing her belly. I had a punctured right eyeball and spent 3 hours in surgery followed by 3 days in hospital then 6 weeks recovering at home. The Egyptian surgeon who saved my sight told me one more mm and I would have been one eyed!  I sold the ewe!

[feldar]

I had a young ewe kick the electric clippers out of my hand straight into my face whilst I was shearing her belly. I had a punctured right eyeball and spent 3 hours in surgery followed by 3 days in hospital then 6 weeks recovering at home. The Egyptian surgeon who saved my sight told me one more mm and I would have been one eyed!  I sold the ewe!

that was a close call, too close i think

[YorkshireLass]

I had a young ewe kick the electric clippers out of my hand straight into my face whilst I was shearing her belly. I had a punctured right eyeball and spent 3 hours in surgery followed by 3 days in hospital then 6 weeks recovering at home. The Egyptian surgeon who saved my sight told me one more mm and I would have been one eyed!  I sold the ewe!

Aaaaaiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

I've been flattened once, trying to gather ram lambs for trip to slaughter/market (can't remember) - one blow per knee and one in the guts....advice given was to stay down so he didn't keep charging/butting. Luckily my guts are at least padded!