[dyedinthewool]

Hi all,
 
I bought a shearling Charollias ram lamb today at the market, got him home and put him in the barn until I could give him a dose of wormer.  He seemed quiet enough.
As we don't have oodles of land I thought I'd put him in a paddock next to my 3 ram lambs with his potential ladies in the next field on from the boys out of sight.  all seemed to going well when I let him out he inspected his boundaries and said hello to the boys through the fence, then went off to eat grass.  I kept my eye on him through the afternoon and all seemed well.  Suddenly my OH shouted 'had I let the lad in with the boys'....!!! then we realised he was behind the fence (we have stock fencing with barbed wire on the top in front of a bank with hedge on top - we still have this fence and hedge to sort out as it's not in very good condition and the stock fencing is only 3' high)   So we had to cut the barb and stock fence to allow him to get out unfortunately it was into the boys field.....  He promptly got over friendly with my boys - who were most astonished by his advances......  He started to butt the boys who again didn't know quite what to do..... next thing he had stood back and gave one of the boys a real whack knocking him for six so hard he was winded and was on his back; we chased the ram off and got the lamb back up right but he was very shaken.
 
We have managed to get the new ram lamb into a shed in the field with 'open' barred gates so he can see out but as a security measure (worried he might try to bash his way out/lift the gates of there hinges) we chained the catches and wired the hinges so they can't lift off.  After a bit he calmed down and set about eating the hay.
So my Q is how high do we need to make the fence to keep the little B***** in.  We're not ready yet for him to go in with the girls and while I did originally think it would okay to let him in with the other boys after a few days until it was time - the end of the month,  I'm not so keen now after the trouble tonight.  A friend down the road lost one of her old/elderly rams when one of her new rams suddenly attacked him. 

[jacoblambuk]

Hi i have a hampshire weather who can clear a 4 ft hurdle if he is penned the best way with your lambs and the new ram is pen them all together tight so they cant move so they have to rub each other. we had 2 rams together for a month fine we had them sheared they started to fight we had taken there smell off they didn't recognise each other

[bigchicken]

That's why they are called woolly jumpers    If they want to get somewhere especially if they are on there own and can see a pal.

[Fleecewife]

As jacoblambuk says - pen all the males very closely, preferably in a 4'x4' pen overnight.  I'm not sure how many males you have, but they need to have no room to take a run-up.  Putting them in adjacent paddocks will simply infuriate them but will give them no chance to sort themselves out.
 
The new tup was simply establishing himself in the new group as the leader. The ram lambs would have established their own pecking order already, so for the new shearling it's essential that he dominates them to be boss.   The fighting doesn't usually go on for long but can be scary to watch.  They don't usually kill each other, especially when they are of different ages and sizes, as the younger ones usually back down quickly.  There is always some tussling when something changes, as after shearing, or when the stock tup returns from tupping, but it all settles down.

[gulli]

I've had a blackface ewe go over my shoulder (i'm 6ft tall...)

an we once had a hereford bull clear 4 strands of barbed wire (so about 5ft) from a standing start.

If they want to get out then they will, so as said pen them up tight and let them sort out a pecking order or you will probably end up with a dead one

[Marches Farmer]

My neighbour's shearling Badger Face tup went over a 5ft sheeted metal cattle gate from a standing jump ...

[bigchicken]

X breeding with kangaroos me thinks.

[dyedinthewool]

Thanks for all the replies.
We spent Saturday extending the height of the fence between the boys and the new ram plus another were there might have been a possiblity of him jumping out.  And electric fencing the fence along side the lane - we had part laid it last spring so a bit sparce and low though it was on a bank.
We got him into the shed again for the night - no problem he has obviously been bucket fed at some time .  He wasn't worried about OH using the digger to strain the fencing, in fact he was nearly wanting to get in and help.....!!
 
He did touch the electric fence and shot away so think he'll stay away from that side of the field.
 
 I think it was mostly worry about having been moved from were he knew to the unknown.  To-day he was much better though a bit stiff from were he had jumped into the hedge.
  I also think he had been used on ewes before being sold as he is a bit 'light' and has been lying down a fair bit to-day.  Tonight he just walked in behind me into the shed.  Will leave him out over night tomorrow, but I need to do his feet as they look a bit ragged and having him in over night means I can do them before I let him out.

[FoulaLass]

Just make sure when you heighten it that you do it by a good height, not by half a foot, or  foot. We have sheep here who live in the cliffs and can escape even with a 7 foot fence. Standing jump and they are Shetlands, not big sheep, just skilled jumpers.