# Wether Curling Lip at Ewes?



## mysunwolf (May 16, 2014)

If my wether is doing the flehmen response at my ewes... does that mean they are FOR SURE not bred and are currently in heat? Or is he just getting a little rammy as he gets older and excited about the mature ewes? I'm trying to figure out whether or not to put a ram in there and try to breed the girls before the May window closes.

Here's a photo of Puff Puff the Magnificent curling his lip after sniffing my oldest ewe's pee. Yay?


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## Ruus (May 16, 2014)

My wether went nuts and started trying to breed one of my ewes _while she was in labor. _Literally, she had the head and hooves hanging out and he's trying to mount her. 
So I'm not so sure they're too discerning about what smells get them excited.


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## mysunwolf (May 16, 2014)

Ah, thank you for the quick reply  These wethers are a little strange  

I guess I may just deal with waiting until spring for lambs if they ewes are not really bred, now that I know that relying on my wether is not reliable!


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## Sheepshape (May 17, 2014)

All sheep do this lip curling thing,ewes as well as rams....it allows them to target the scent glands on the roof of the mouth which detect a wide range of chemical messengers,including pheromones. However,in his case, he does still seem to have some of the urge with none of the ability.


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## Parsnip (May 17, 2014)

Ruus said:


> My wether went nuts and started trying to breed one of my ewes _while she was in labor. _Literally, she had the head and hooves hanging out and he's trying to mount her.
> So I'm not so sure they're too discerning about what smells get them excited.



We had a wether who did this!
When our first ewe lambed he was all over her seriously 
He was a  weird little guy, did the lip curling and the whole leg kicking thing, but always lost interest incredibly quickly.


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## Ruus (May 17, 2014)

Parsnip said:


> We had a wether who did this!
> When our first ewe lambed he was all over her seriously
> He was a  weird little guy, did the lip curling and the whole leg kicking thing, but always lost interest incredibly quickly.


Mine was worked up into such a frenzy that when I got him out of the pen where the ewe was lambing, he went completely nuts attacking the other ewes and bashing the fence trying to get at her. I had to move him all the way to the ram pen on the other end of the farm, and that straightened him out. The ram wasn't going to put up with that kind of attitude.


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## mysunwolf (Jul 22, 2014)

Well, turns out that this wether was indeed NOT wethered properly  It was my first time banding, and I could've sworn I got those two little peas... ah well. So in this case, it was a "ram" doing this behavior. I've never seen any of the others do this.


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