# Will a buck and ram fight?



## NachoFarm (Oct 29, 2012)

We just brought our man sheep, He-Ram home on the weekend to breed our three ewes.  We now have the opportunity to bring a buck in for a while to breed our two Alpine cross does.  He won't be here permanently, just until he breeds our does, but I'm concerned that the males will fight.  The buck has giant man horns and I don't want him to injure our ram.  They would all be running in the same pasture.


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## SheepGirl (Oct 29, 2012)

By the way sheep & goats fight with members of their own species, I would say the ram could hold his own. It would be the goat I'd be concerned with. Goats when they fight stand up on their back legs and come down and hit heads. Rams come at each other on the ground, so what I think would happen is the goat would be standing up to hit the ram but the ram is backing up and hits the goat in his stomach or ribs before the buck has a chance to get back on all 4s.

And you might have dominance issues with having breeding flocks of sheep & goats together--the ram or buck will think all the females are his to breed and won't let the other one breed, even with the females of his own species.

But those are just my theories. You never know what will happen unless you put them together and find out.


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## purplequeenvt (Oct 29, 2012)

I would separate them if you possibly can. You might not have an issue, but it is more likely that they will fight. My _*wethered*_ goat got into a fight with one of our rams last year and loosened one of his (the goat's) horns.


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## Shelly May (Oct 29, 2012)

Take my advise do not put them together in the same lot at breeding time some one is going to die or get seriously 
hurt and wont be able to do his job anyway, Goats with horns always seem to get the legs of another animal caught
in his horns and usually breaks the leg of the other animal. You should run a divider woven wire fence with t-post and 
divide your pasture in half, for a temporary setup until the goat leaves. If this was any other time of year there is a right 
way to make to adult males learn to get along. You pen them together in a small pen and throw old tires down all over
the ground in the pen, This keeps the males from backing up and getting a running start and bashing each other in the
head, as the tires don't allow the running start to accure. they will just be able to tap each other on the head without 
the powerful full force blow. And after about 3-4 days together they are usually friends enough that they can be turned 
into a bigger pasture. Head injury's that accure when two fight is bleeding from the brain all the way to broken necks.
its just not worth the loss of one of the ram/bucks. you can also buy cattle panels to make or divide a pen. Again all info 
is because you are ready to breed now and this is a problem as both males will want to be the dominate one.


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## Queen Mum (Oct 29, 2012)

Yes, they will fight and as everyone else said, they have different fighting styles so one of them will probably get hurt.  Don't pen them together.


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## alsea1 (Dec 30, 2012)

my black belly ram whopped my poor lil Eon pretty good. I got them apart asap. Still working on Eons confidence. Eon is a lil boer buck. I did not realize when I got him that he is either a stunted goat or a runt. But he is not very big. The size of a NG . Not happy about that, but hey. He grows on ya.
So I would def. not put them in same pasture.


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## kstaven (Dec 30, 2012)

NachoFarm said:
			
		

> We just brought our man sheep, He-Ram home on the weekend to breed our three ewes.  We now have the opportunity to bring a buck in for a while to breed our two Alpine cross does.  He won't be here permanently, just until he breeds our does, but I'm concerned that the males will fight.  The buck has giant man horns and I don't want him to injure our ram.  They would all be running in the same pasture.


I would keep the separated. Best odds are the ram getting the better of the buck despite the horn element.


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## Southern by choice (Dec 31, 2012)

I would keep them separated. Remember, you are borrowing the buck and responsible for anything that happens to him. I do think the ram could kill the buck.


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## eweinHiscare (Jan 1, 2013)

Don't put the ram and buck together.

I tried that and had to separate mine after 24 hours before someone got seriously hurt.

Both them were under a year old, and were waiting for the time to be put with their girls.

The buck had 5 inch horns but I think the ram would have broken them and gotten the best of the buck.

The ram would paw like a little bull, and run straight at the buck and bash him.

I don't think the buck was so serious, more play fighting like bucklings do...meanwhile the ram was all business.

I heard the buck cry out when the ram bashed him in his nose, that's when I went in and got him out of there.

My ram is a Katahdin, and my buck is a Alpine.


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