[Jacob-list] rams and ewes

[Linda]

For the first couple years that I had sheep, I left the ram in all year round.  Things were abit simpler then as I only had four ewes at the most those first two years.  I quit leaving the ram in for a few different reasons.  As Debbie said, the ram was overly protective of his flock.  Sometimes you really do have to make a running leap to catch a lamb and having a ram behind you making a running leap at you is not fun.  Sometimes the rams respond to the prelambing scent of ewe as if she were in estrus.  I don't like the rams annoying the ewes.  I don't like to grain rams and I do grain my ewes in late gestation and during lactation and I grain the lambs.  I think graining rams can make them more aggressive and I don't like seeing rams fighting the ewes for grain.  The ram ends up getting most of the grain, which he doesn't need and the ewes do need.  When I took the ram that I'd had running with the ewes for two years to the butcher, the guys that worked there had a good laugh at the fat layer on that boy.  I still get teased about it, over ten years later, by the butcher's crew!

I like to sit out in the pasture on a tree stump and watch the ewes, hand feeding them and chatting with them about politics and local taxes.  It's much more relaxed without the ram being there.  

Linda
 
www.patchworkfibers.com
Registered Jacob Sheep, Angora Rabbits, Handspun Yarn

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 20:33:55 -0800 (PST), Liz wrote:
> What are some of the advantages/ Disadvantages of leaving an intact
> ram in with the ewes year round?
>
> There's been lots of discussion on how to keep them happy outside
> of a ewe flock, and I was curious what others felt about leaving
> their rams in.
>
> Lilly
> Horizenewe

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