Ewe rams a lot. Ways to train her to stop?

[Southdown]

Just when you think only rams ram people, we have one ewe that rams. And she rams a lot. I would really like to train her to not do this. Right now she is really protective of her lamb, so this time is particularly worse. But even before lambing, she would ram me. She does not like to be petted on her head or face. And I realize this can trigger them to ram more. But even if I pet her on her back or torso, she still rams. I feel like I cannot pet her at all. But there are times when I do not touch her, and she will ram me and/or ram my hand, as if she is demanding food. So I believe one reason may be that she is raming my hand in hopes to demand treats from my hand. However, when I clearly have no food, she still does it. She is equally as ram-happy as a real ram. I'm not a believer in causing physical harm to animals, so I don't want to do anything like that. But I have read about grabbing them and holding them on the butts when they come after you. I'm not sure about that. I would be doing that every few minutes. Any tips/ideas/similar experiences?
Thanks.

 

[secuono]

So she doesn't like people, not every critter will like humans.
You can try winning her over with treats, but it might make it worse once she has them....

 

[bonbean01]

I have never had a ewe do this...did she start this after she had her lamb, or did she do it before?

 

[Southdown]

She started this behavior when she was still under a year old. It is simply exacerbated with the lamb right now because she is very protective of him. But I'm wondering if it stems from her "demanding" treats from my hand. Maybe she thinks she will get fed if she does this (even though she does not get rewarded for this). I find it a bit unusual as I expect the males to behave this way, but not from an ewe. Every sheep rams each other a little bit as they establish their pecking order, but they never ram at humans. Just this little girl. I never give her a treat if she behaves this way, so she should not associate the ramming with reward. Well, perhaps Secuono is right, in that she simply doesn't like humans as much as the others. She doesn't like to be touched. I can accept that as her personality, but I would still like to discourage the ramming. She will come eat out of my hand, baa at me, and come and sniff me voluntarily. She has no problem coming and looking at my face closely, but the minute you touch her she gets mad. They all have their own personalities don't they! My other momma is the most laid back ewe I've ever owned. She completely trusts me with her lamb and you can hug her, pet her, etc. and she's fine. They have different parenting styles, for sure.

 

[Bossroo]

Send her to freezer camp asap before she hurts you or yours !!!!!!!!

 

[CritterZone]

Your could try the masks that are used to discourage rams from the same behavior. I guess you have to ask yourself if she is a liability worth keeping. Our ewes are protective of their lambs, and they will stomp and charge, but if you back off, they back down. I think that is fair. But a ewe that will ram into you with or without lambs, may not be worth keeping.

 

[Southdown]

Send her to freezer camp asap before she hurts you or yours !!!!!!!!

Since I'm a vegetarian, there won't be a freezer camp, lol. But I would like to work with her. Her lamb is very healthy and showing great qualities. She's less likely to bother if you are just standing around chilling and not touching her.

We have a Suffolk ewe that is quite aggressive with other sheep, but not with us. She just doesn't seem to like other sheep as much as humans. This ewe seems to be the opposite. I still suspect it has to do with the feeding treats from my hand. That is how we tamed her in the first place. But now she must think she can ram and gets food somehow.

 

[CritterZone]

We have several sheep we feed treats by hand and I have never had one of them butt me.

I find it a bit unusual as I expect the males to behave this way, but not from an ewe.

I wouldn't expect or allow a ram to behave like that either.

 

[Bossroo]

Send her to freezer camp asap before she hurts you or yours !!!!!!!!

Since I'm a vegetarian, there won't be a freezer camp, lol. But I would like to work with her. Her lamb is very healthy and showing great qualities. She's less likely to bother if you are just standing around chilling and not touching her.

We have a Suffolk ewe that is quite aggressive with other sheep, but not with us. She just doesn't seem to like other sheep as much as humans. This ewe seems to be the opposite. I still suspect it has to do with the feeding treats from my hand. That is how we tamed her in the first place. But now she must think she can ram and gets food somehow.

I would surmise that vegetarians need more health insurance for healthcare than a carnivore like me.

 

[purplequeenvt]

She would have to be a spectacular example of her breed for me to put up with that behavior (and even then I'm not sure I would) We do not keep mean animals around here. Rams or ewes. They don't have to be friendly, but they do have to be nice. It is a liability to have an aggressive animal and we frequently have small people running around.

I would slaughter her if she were mine.

You could try flipping her a few times. When she comes after you, grab her a flip her over onto her side. Hold her down for a couple minutes or until she stops struggling. This technique sometimes works, but it can depend on why she's butting.