[Thyme]

I'd like to put my three young tups back with the rest of the flock for spring and summer, as it would make paddock management simpler, but I don't want to risk an out of season lambing, or risk them starting to seriously fight each other.  My neighbours say it's fine to put them with the flock, but I'm jumpy so looking for additional opinions.

Further info:  they're all Shetlands.  The tups are last year's tup lambs.  They currently get along all right in their separate paddock -- some shoving, but no serious fighting.  The flock is ewes due to lamb next month plus last year's unbred ewe lambs.

I expect there's no absolute guarantee there won't be an out of season tupping (?) if I put them in, but I'd like to know if it's just "probably not" or "really very unlikely".  Any comments appreciated, especially from Shetland owners.

[SallyintNorth]

I'm deliberating the same thing myself!

Whenever we've discussed it in the past, someone always recounts a story of a lamb born in August... 

[Daisys Mum]

I have left my tup in with the ewes who are due to lamb at the beginning of May but would now like to put my 4 shetland Wethers in with them too as they are currently in my lambing field which needs to recover before May,

[Garmoran]

My next door neighbour used to have half a dozen Shetland ewes with two Shetland/Merino tups. She used to keep them apart early August until mid November, lambs always appeared Eastertime.

My tups always have some Cheviot ewes running on the inbye with them from March to early August, usually because I want to keep a close eye on the ewe or its offspring for some reason. I've never had an early lamb as a result.

We did have an August lamb last year, but it was obviously the progeny of a neighbour's blackface tup. Of course August lambs should not happen if tupping goes well in November and ewes are carrying April lambs...

[Thyme]

Of course August lambs should not happen if tupping goes well in November and ewes are carrying April lambs...

Yes, I'm more worried about last year's ewe lambs who are now unbred shearlings.  Two of them are favourites of mine and it'd be a shame for them to have unregisterable, out of season, and possibly inbred lambs 

[Marches Farmer]

I expect there's no absolute guarantee there won't be an out of season tupping (?) if I put them in, but I'd like to know if it's just "probably not" or "really very unlikely".  Any comments appreciated, especially from Shetland owners.

I think you've just answered your own question.  Simplified paddock management vs. out-of-season, inbred lambs....?

[in the hills]

Not sure if you were hoping to put them in before or after lambing. We had problems with the tup interfering with ewes as they started lambing and also problems when we had wethers in with ewes who were about to lamb. They seemed to notice a different smell on the ewes in the last week before lambing and basically wouldn't leave them alone. Had to separate as the ewes were constantly harassed.

[Garmoran]

We had problems with the tup interfering with ewes as they started lambing ... Had to separate as the ewes were constantly harassed.

Interesting. My tups are always with the ewes at lambing time and the only time I've had a problem is if one of the tups becomes a bully at feeding time. Not been a problem for some years, touch wood, although there is one ewe that is a candidate for the sale this autumn due to antisocial feeding behaviour.

[carfarmer]

We leave our ram out with his girls and their lams most of the year up until July, We then bring him in to his own paddock. Then depending when we want to lamb put him back in, October 1st this time and left him out since.
This means he is ready for action and we haven't had any out of season lambs
Our ram is calm and much easier to handle than most of the ewes, and loves his section A  girlfriend!

[Marches Farmer]

We had problems with the tup interfering with ewes as they started lambing ... Had to separate as the ewes were constantly harassed.

My tups are always with the ewes at lambing time and the only time I've had a problem is if one of the tups becomes a bully at feeding time. Not been a problem for some years, touch wood, although there is one ewe that is a candidate for the sale this autumn due to antisocial feeding behaviour.

Are your tups getting the same hard feed as the ewes?  They require different feed because of the likelihood of urinary calculi otherwise.

[Beeducked]

Not sure if you were hoping to put them in before or after lambing. We had problems with the tup interfering with ewes as they started lambing and also problems when we had wethers in with ewes who were about to lamb. They seemed to notice a different smell on the ewes in the last week before lambing and basically wouldn't leave them alone. Had to separate as the ewes were constantly harassed.

I ran my Castlemilk ram with my ewes all summer and autumn this year (not entirely deliberately but turns out he can jump the gate from a standing start!). He was his usual (generally) gentlemanly self until last week so had left him in with them but he has just become a complete pain and won't let them settle at all. He is now exiled to the goat pen. Interestingly despite running with them pretty much all year we haven'y started lambing yet Last year he was put in the beginning of Nov and they lambed bang on the beginning of April. We are only 2 weeks behind that now!

[Fleecewife]

Our tups go in for one month in November and that's it til the next year. For the rest of the year they are in a separate field across the road.

As in the hills has said, tups and even wethers can be a real nuisance at lambing time, pawing at ewes on the ground as they try to deliver, chasing them round and so on.  They can get really het up and disrupt the whole flock.  We keep primitives, including Shetlands and with our system we haven't had out of season lambs, but I think they would jump any ewe at any time of year if she would let them - they spend a lot of time practising on each other  .  It doesn't mean that your tups will do that, but it's a risk.  If you had only one tup and no companion for him, then you could risk keeping him in with the ewes, but as you have three together then for me it wouldn't be worth the risk and I would keep them separate.

[Thyme]

Thanks Fleecewife and everyone who replied.  I'm planning now to keep them separate.

[Anke]

I have bottle reared a couple of Shetland lambs... they are now 7 months old, some walkers left a gate open... (I bought them in as their dam didn't make it and I had spare goatsmilk). They are now nearly the same size as the lambs born 4 months earlier.

I wouldn't.

Will have to bring one of my tups to the market asap as he doesn't get on with anyone his own sex (and a different colour) and has started to get annoying around feeding time with his ewes... and I do not have a spare field for his extravagancies available, so off he goes. (I would have taken him for slaughter, as being a black Shetland he will fetch pennies, if that, but he still honks... )