How do you handle an aggressive ram?

[Bossroo]

My rams truly hum. A few weeks back I kept a bunch of ram lambs in the barn for a couple of hours before the guy who had bought them came with his trailer. When I opened the door, the smell nearly knocked us over.

Maybe some rams are stinkier than others, but that stink certainly ups many notches as the breeding season approaches (in line with the noticeable increase in 'scrotal girth').

I find the smell of ewes to be pleasant.....rams?....not so much!

It just occurs to me that ram stink may be one of those things that you can either smell or not due to inherited factors (like digesting the dye in beetroots).I honestly don't curl my top lip and point my nose in the air! It would be interesting to hear if other folk find rams very stinky!

You had bunch of ram lambs inside a barn for a few hours. More than enough time to urinate and deficate. Ergo , what you are smelling is ammonia fumes from the urine and feces. When a ram curls his nose, what he is testing for is the estrogen levels of the ewe to see if she is getting ready or is in heat and readiness to be bred.

 

[Sheepshape]

You had bunch of ram lambs inside a barn for a few hours. More than enough time to urinate and deficate. Ergo , what you are smelling is ammonia fumes from the urine and feces. When a ram curls his nose, what he is testing for is the estrogen levels of the ewe to see if she is getting ready or is in heat and readiness to be bred.

Nope....not just the poo and pee....an additional strong smell. I can have the ewes in the shed for hours (more of them, and very capable of filling the shed with excrement, and it smells just like ......excrement.)

I'm very familiar with the vomeronal (Flehmen) response. As the vomeronal (Jacobson's) organ is present in the human foetus, I'm just wondering as to whether mine failed to involute! Maybe I've missed my vocation.

 

[Beekissed]

Bay, the hair sheep don't seem to have that rank smell that woollies have, even in the rams. I've not noticed any smell in them at all...sort of smell like horses~ hair, sweat and hay.

 

[norseofcourse]

Elding doesn't seem to have a rank smell, either. Maybe it's the breed? Anyone else with Icelandics, or Shetlands, Finnsheep, Romanov, Soay - the more primitive type breeds - do your rams have a bad odor?

Elding was acting up a few days ago, so for a few days I put the leash on him and kept him with me when I was in the sheep's pasture. For the last couple of days he's been more calm and I haven't had to do that. I wonder if the 'acting up' days are the days someone is in heat and he's more in breeding mode?

 

[Baymule]

@norseofcourse your Elding seems to be an exceptional ram. You are probably right about an ewe being in heat when he's acting up.

I haven't tried to halter my ram up, maybe I should do that. He is calm and friendly, even when I put the 2 keeper ewes in with him and one was in heat. Is it hard to teach them to lead on a halter?

 

[norseofcourse]

@norseofcourse your Elding seems to be an exceptional ram. You are probably right about an ewe being in heat when he's acting up.

Thanks - exceptional? - I'll tell him that next time he gets acting stupid!

I haven't tried to halter my ram up, maybe I should do that. He is calm and friendly, even when I put the 2 keeper ewes in with him and one was in heat. Is it hard to teach them to lead on a halter?

Go for it! I don't think it was that hard. I just treated him like a big ole hairy dog, and used a regular pressure/release method. Take the slack out of the leash till there's a couple pounds of 'pull' on it, then hold that till he moves toward the pressure, even just a bit - release all pressure. Repeat. Took a break and let him graze sometimes. He learned pretty fast.

 

[SheepGirl]

I've never noticed an unusual smell with my rams. They smell like my ewes, which smell like sheep

 

[purplequeenvt]

Rams can have an odor, mainly during breeding season, but it's usually nothing like a buck smell. Some rams and breeds are stinkier than others. Mature rams will stink more than young boys.

 

[BreanneRN]

My first ram was a big beast, he was most likely a Suffolk/Hampshire cross, Probably weighed 250lbs. I never turned my back on him. When young, he would charge me, but he always acted like a bull, would paw the ground and then run with his head down from a long distance. I would wait til he was close and kick him in the nose as hard as I could. I mostly avoided confrontations with him, but as he got older he quit charging me. I could see him looking at me and thinking about it then thinking about his nose hurting... He was not he smartest sheep I've had... He often got his head stuck in the stock panels and I would have to get my daughter to help pull him out. I would sit on his back and turn his head while she pulled the fence off him. He was never aggressive when we had to do that. The horned sheep I have now are different, they keep their head quite a bit higher when they charge... I still avoid confrontation, but did have one once, because he was out, and I turned my back after feeding thinking he would eat. I turned on him and was angry and when he tried it again, I hit him in the nose with the feed bucket. I never turn my back on any ram and I don't let them run with the ewes... They are bored and never have enough to do in small holdings... They pester the ewes like roosters do hens. They are meant to fight and breed a huge amount of ewes, and that is their nature. When breeding season comes in fall they get jealous of the ewes and think you want them too! If I had it to do over again, I would not keep one full time at all, just get one 1seasonally as needed, or use a 5 or 6 month one from the Spring. In the UK, they keep a public stud and you can check out rams like library books and return them when you are done... Wish they had something like that here. It gives small holders an opportunity to use a high quality, proven ram that they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. And like I say, they are able to breed so many more than the ewes that most small holders keep. Anyway, think the nose is the key. They don't like to be hit there. It feels good to them to be hit over the head and they are designed to absorb that kind of impact. And they will want to do it again and again. My current ram I have had since a weanling and spent some time working with him to make him manageable, but still wouldn't trust him. And seasonally, he is a pita! But he is pretty smart and sires nice lambs.

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

Always have a mature, trained Boarder Collie at heel. BCs job is to nail ram before he nails you. Otherwise, I would not keep a ram. My being crippled/killed is not worth keeping a ram.