Hermaphrodite?

[tdurant]

So here is an odd situation that maybe some of you have experienced. I have a hermie sheep. She/he will be going to the sale barn at the end of summer because she has no purpose on the farm since she cannot breed, her wool is awful, and she is becoming aggressive.
This lamb was born a Shetland ewe. Ewes are naturally polled in Shetland sheep (always), rams are not (generally). As this lamb grew, horns started budding. Odd. Then she started humping everything with four legs including the goats and even chased the donkey. She cannot (or will not) properly urinate so it just dribbles down the backs of her legs all over her wool. She is larger than our ram now, with full ram horns and the attitude to match.
Have any of you ever experienced this kind of thing? Is it genetic? None of the lambs born this year from that same dam have this issue.

 

[jjohnsen]

So here is an odd situation that maybe some of you have experienced. I have a hermie sheep. She/he will be going to the sale barn at the end of summer because she has no purpose on the farm since she cannot breed, her wool is awful, and she is becoming aggressive.
This lamb was born a Shetland ewe. Ewes are naturally polled in Shetland sheep (always), rams are not (generally). As this lamb grew, horns started budding. Odd. Then she started humping everything with four legs including the goats and even chased the donkey. She cannot (or will not) properly urinate so it just dribbles down the backs of her legs all over her wool. She is larger than our ram now, with full ram horns and the attitude to match.
Have any of you ever experienced this kind of thing? Is it genetic? None of the lambs born this year from that same dam have this issue.

I wonder if a veterinary college would buy this animal from you to study it.

 

[Britgoes2market]

We had one like this, harvested her/him at harvest age....she too humped everything until she was processed. I'm not sure if this is always the "rule" but I read the likelihood of it happening was when the ewe had triplets, two rams and a ewe-the testosterone flush could cause this. I've only seen it once, and have had a few say this was inaccurate as it doesn't always happen. Didn't happen next spring.

 

[Ridgetop]

I have seen 2 dairy goats years ago that were hermaphrodites. One out of our breeding, another from a completely different bloodline. It is uncommon but happens. It is not hereditary, just an aberration.

This lamb was born a Shetland ewe.

The hermaphrodite animal is mistaken for a ewe because there are no testes or penis on the outside of the body. The animal has what seems to be a vaginal opening but when you look closely it will not look right. Sometimes you will find a misshapen rudimentary penis thing in the opening. Often you can feel a lump like a swollen gland in the groin - that is a testicle. Sometimes the animal wi have one on each side.

The sheep is getting rammy because it has the ram hormones. You can't do anything about it since you can't castrate it. It needs to go in the freezer if not too old or be culled.