Post by elnini on May 27, 2011 5:07:03 GMT -5
Well, I chimed in on a post about keeping rams and now I have to hold my hand up and say that a ram lamb from a tame flock is as big a PITA as a hand raised ram.
I had thought it might make a difference that he was raised as a sheep by his mum, but she is a really quiet sheep and he has no fear of us, learned from her.
All this last year he's been a sweet boy, I could pick up his feet, peer into his ears, check his eyes, teeth, manly bits, all without having to restrain him. And he would wear a halter and loved beigh brushed and scritches.
Then this last week the switch has gone on with his hormones and it's only a matter of time before I get hurt. He's attacked me twice and chased me from the paddock three times. I put the feed in the tub for the group (ram lamb, two ewes and a wether) and leave. I can no longer love on the two ewes or even touch them or he attacks me.
So he's for freezer camp this week. The old ram is still making plenty of babies, he's great with the lambs (five of them bouncing on him today), kind to the ewes and he's long ago figured out I don't want his girls in that way.... So I don't need a hormone ridden teenage thug.
I'm going to miss my sweet baby Spot, but this paranoid, agressive loon is not him, and my sympathy is decreasing as my fear of him increases. Just glad he's not a bull.
When the old boy (Boof) passes on I'll advertise for an old gentleman retiring ram for my little flock. A kind old boy with a healthy respect for people.
I had thought it might make a difference that he was raised as a sheep by his mum, but she is a really quiet sheep and he has no fear of us, learned from her.
All this last year he's been a sweet boy, I could pick up his feet, peer into his ears, check his eyes, teeth, manly bits, all without having to restrain him. And he would wear a halter and loved beigh brushed and scritches.
Then this last week the switch has gone on with his hormones and it's only a matter of time before I get hurt. He's attacked me twice and chased me from the paddock three times. I put the feed in the tub for the group (ram lamb, two ewes and a wether) and leave. I can no longer love on the two ewes or even touch them or he attacks me.
So he's for freezer camp this week. The old ram is still making plenty of babies, he's great with the lambs (five of them bouncing on him today), kind to the ewes and he's long ago figured out I don't want his girls in that way.... So I don't need a hormone ridden teenage thug.
I'm going to miss my sweet baby Spot, but this paranoid, agressive loon is not him, and my sympathy is decreasing as my fear of him increases. Just glad he's not a bull.
When the old boy (Boof) passes on I'll advertise for an old gentleman retiring ram for my little flock. A kind old boy with a healthy respect for people.