# Halter training a young ram?



## tiana29 (Jan 21, 2013)

First of all I'm a complete newbie and I have 4 American Blackbelly ewes and 1 five month old ram. I have been told that I should start to halter train him to make it easier to handle him when he gets older. But it hasn't proven to be to easy. I'm able to catch him with the help of my Kelpie and get the halter on him. At first I just put it on him and let him wear it for a while. Now I can actually tie him to the fence and even walk him away from the ewes. But he doesn't go willingly nor does he stand nicely while tied. He throws himself around and then will calm down and walk about 3 - 4 feet then throws himself around again. Sometimes he jumps high in the air and then other times he will throw himself down. I just let him throw his fit and when he calms down I either ask him to move forward or sometimes I award him with some grain. I will say he is making small progress and is calming down more quickly but I just don't know if I'm doing this all wrong. I don't want him to start to see the halter and run. So any advise would be appreciated. My mentor has always trained her rams to be haltered but they are dorpers which seem to be a lot more laid back then my ABB's. I know for a fact that if I didn't have my Kelpie to help me catch them then I wouldn't have a chance. What does everyone else do with there rams?


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## BrownSheep (Jan 21, 2013)

Truthfully unless you plan on showing him I wouldnt bother. One ram of mine is halter broken, but we never find it needed. The other isn't broken at all. 

What do you plan on doing with these sheep? Are you looking for sweet pets, a production flock, or something in between. We have four or five friendly sheep the rest aren't friendly..I wouldn't say wild just not friendly.

For our show lambs we tie them to a fence for a bit each day.  Leading with your hands is a good way o start showing he has to go were you lead. Placing fingers on either side of the base of the tail and pushing will also make him walk.  having someone walk behind is also a good way to keep him moving.

As for catching...most sheep unless bottle raised will resist being caught.


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## purplequeenvt (Jan 21, 2013)

Most of our sheep (we have around 40) are halter trained or at least partially so. It makes moving one or two so much easier. 

Your boy probably just needs more practice. If you are afraid of him associating the halter with bad things, try haltering him and giving him a little grain. Bribery can go a long way sometimes.


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## purplequeenvt (Jan 21, 2013)

Ooops! Double post.


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## SheepGirl (Jan 21, 2013)

I would say keep working with him the way you are. The very first sheep I halter trained, I went through a lot of grain. She is perfect on the halter, don't need grain to lead her, and you can take her anywhere. CATCHING her to put the halter on her is a completely different story, though!! 

All of my sheep are halter trained. Two of them, though, are VERY stubborn and fight a lot. (Particularly Lady Gaga.) I find it useful for when I need to move them somewhere. Sometimes though I just like to halter them up and walk them around. Like just the other day I haltered up Hank, my ram, and I took him around the boundary of the field, and then I walked him up & down our driveway (1/4 mile) and then all around our house. I let him stop every 40 or 50 ft or so to eat some grass.


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## alsea1 (Jan 21, 2013)

I have American Black belly sheep as well.
They are more flighty than the other breeds. Mine would break their fool necks fighting if I tried the halter and leading thing.
Good luck.


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## tiana29 (Jan 22, 2013)

I'm only using my flock for production so they are not going to be show sheep or even pets. I'm just glad to know I'm not doing it all wrong.  I was able to catch him tonight and get the halter on without much of a fight and since he was pretty nice about it I just let him go eat with the girls instead of making it into a lesson. Hopefully what I'm doing will pay off and he won't be such a pain if I have to separate him from his girls.  I guess I have to understand that he most likely will not be like my mentors dorper ram that just walks right up to you so you can put the halter on.


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## alsea1 (Jan 22, 2013)

No. he probably won't.
But if you can at least keep him so that you can walk up to him and catch him that's cool
Mine just looks at me and I picture him saying Yeah right. You wish. LOL
The ewes just come so close and thats it.  Even the newest baby is now miss Oh no you can't catch me.


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## CrazyFlocksters (Jan 23, 2013)

You can try treats, may help with the training. We use "Nella Waffers". But it doesn't work with all sheep.


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## TexasShepherdess (Jan 23, 2013)

It sounds like you are doing it right..
Ive never used grain..in any animal (horse, cow or sheep) Ive taught to lead personally. 

I can see, even if you never plan to show, the benefits of halter breaking, espc the ram. I like it, as if the ram is being a nudge, you can catch him up and tie him up...I have to tie my ram up if Im cleaning the barn out..he pesters me for back scratches and gets in my way. 

Bear in mind though, sheep who are handled alot, as in halter breaking and espc in rams, can develop less of a fear of people and can become more "dangerous" in the fact they are used to being handled by people..trade off I guess.


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