Author Topic: Wethers as pets (Read 4816 times)

Josiejo · « **on:** April 09, 2017, 08:20:58 pm »

I know it's not really safe to keep a pet ram but wondered if anyone has kept a castrated male as a pet before? We're they easy to manage?

Backinwellies · « **Reply #1 on:** April 09, 2017, 08:38:48 pm »

Sheep are herd animals so must be kept in pairs at least. Wethers vary every bit as much as Rams .... some are friendly , others less so. I have one who has always been one to race across field for a tickle ... but last week he took a dislike to the dog and gave it a good head but in the ribs.

Josiejo · « **Reply #2 on:** April 09, 2017, 10:04:31 pm »

I've got 4 ewes already but they've recently had lambs and I'm smitten with one of the boys and want to keep him! I'm fairly new to keeping sheep so just wondered what people's experiences of keeping wethers were but I guess like you said it can depend on the individual.

in the hills · « **Reply #3 on:** April 09, 2017, 11:10:34 pm »

We have 2 wethers. They behave very much like the ewes and have not shown any aggression to us or other animals. A bit more feisty when being handled but that is all.

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #4 on:** April 10, 2017, 12:04:24 am »

Resist the temptation to have them too tame. Don't hand feed, don't put up with them pressing into you, tripping you up, etc, while they're young. They grow into big, stocky things that will be able to really hurt you just by being overfriendly!

I always say don't have two, have three. Then if something happens to one, you aren't madly searching for a companion for the one that's left

in the hills · « **Reply #5 on:** April 10, 2017, 07:13:34 am »

Our wethers just run with the ewes. Only time we had to separate them was during lambing when they became over interested in the ewes and would have been hazardous during lambing. It only occured as the ewes were very close to lambing probably due to sensing hormone changes.

We treat ours just like the ewes and do hand feed etc. We might be lucky and maybe some get 'pushy' like tups but ours seem to be behave in a very ewe like manner. In fact when it comes to butting each other it's our girls that are the culprits!

Foobar · « **Reply #6 on:** April 10, 2017, 12:03:01 pm »

Wethers are handy if you need a companion for a ram, separate from the ewes. And they make good lawn mowers. The only problem I have found is with pre-lambing feeding: I would use ewe nuts but if you have a wether in with the ewes then you can't feed ewe nuts to wethers.

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #7 on:** April 10, 2017, 01:04:53 pm »

We don't castrate ram lambs. They're either good enough to register for breeding or they're sold as store lambs.

Liz Kershaw · « **Reply #8 on:** April 13, 2017, 09:51:40 pm »

We have 3 Wethers. The oldest one, now 2, is everyone's favourite sheep. He's bolder than the ewes and very friendly, but no hint of aggression. The younger twins are a bit more wary but again no aggression.