# Question about wild sheep and bottle babies...



## WhiteMountainsRanch (Apr 13, 2013)

*Sorry if this is an obvious question.


I recently got a small flock of American Blackbelly sheep and as commonly known for this breed they are pretty darn wild.


So my question is if I pull a couple of the ewe babies next year and bottle feed them, will they be tamer and calmer for me to work with? Can I eventually replace the whole flock with bottle babies (minus the ram).


Or do they revert back to being wild and make it all not worth it?


Thanks in advance!*


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## boykin2010 (Apr 13, 2013)

This is a great way to go IMO.  I bottle feed lambs every year, but only if they cannot survive naturally (rejected my mom, no milk, triplet, etc.) 
The Bottle babies will always be friendlier. Eventually your flock can replaced by bottle babies, and the others will become a little less skittish when they see the bottle babies are getting attention and not being harmed.


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## promiseacres (Apr 13, 2013)

Yes but my wild group of hair sheep took several months to accept that I was their new shepherd...now most will eat from my hand and allow petting. They don't do this for the rest of my family but I am primary caretaker
Btw you know that blackbellies can breed 2 X's a year right?


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## BrownSheep (Apr 13, 2013)

I have bottle babies that still revert back into skittish sheep after weaning.


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## CritterZone (Apr 13, 2013)

We had twin lambs last year that had to be bottle fed - the ewe was a mercy purchase and horribly emaciated when we brought her home.  The lambs were so skinny when they were born their heads looked 3 sizes too big.  Anyhow, we bottle fed them for two months and we did not find them to be any friendlier after weaning than the other lambs.


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## tiana29 (Apr 15, 2013)

When I got my small flock of American Blackbelly sheep it took them a good month or two to warm up to me being there new shepherd as well. One of the ewes was a bottle baby too. Now they will follow me around and most will eat out of my hand but none of mine like to be pet. I'd say give it some time and they will probably surprise you how much they warm up.


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