My pregnant (?) ewe is butting everyone including me.

[zzGypsy]

Hello:
I am quite new to herding animals. This summer I purchased a pregnant ewe and her older lamb, (Kat/Dorp mix) and a few weeks later, 2 young Nigerian Dwarf Does. Everyone has gotten along beautifully, until recently. The ewe..if she IS pregnant as I was told she might be, is due by the end of this month. She has been like a big dog with me....I could give her massages and belly rubs...even head and ear rubs. But now she is butting the little does and she is chasing them with her older lamb as her wing man. She has recently started butting me as well....and I mean backing up and running at me. I have seen postings about "correcting" this behavior, which I thought I was doing but pushing her back has not worked.What is the proper way to correct?
Because they are our lawn maintenance crew, they have access to our whole acreage and they come up onto the wrap around porch when it rains. I am nervous that she will smash one of the Nigerians against the house. And I am not comfortable with my back to her. Do you think this is hormonal behavior?
Thanks for your advice.

took a look at your photos... if she was exposed to a ram to be due by the end of this month, she's not pregnant. if she were bred, she'd likely be looking like a double-wide by now. sometimes with heavy wool, a young ewe will carry the lamb up tight inside and it can be hard to tell, but with short wool you should see her looking decidely preggers. some ewes bag up early (2-3 weeks) but most bag up with in the last 7-10 days. I do have a couple who don't bag up until a day or two before lambing, but that's not typical. your is not even a little bagged up so that adds to the clues that she's not bred.

ewes can be dominant, and quite pushy with others. however aggression with people isn't that common for ewes and progressively more agressive is not a good sign. sometimes rams can be agressive, although we no longer keep ones that are... our sheep are big and any 300lb agressive animal is a problem.

for a few years we kept a ram that was super sweet if you were outside the fence (loved to have his head and ears scratched) but would absolutely knock you down if you were in the pen. we made a halter that fit him and first thing we did every time we entered the pen was catch, halter, and snub him to a post. he never fought being tied, but could not be trusted or taught not to butt. he's a RAM... they're named that for a reason.

the only thing that ever worked to slow him down before we figured out we needed to halter him and tie him up was rapping him on the shins with a broom stick when he approached. you can't address butting by rapping them on the head - that's what they do to each other and it's not a deterent. pushing them back doesn't convince them of anything. their shins are a bit more tender, and a sharp rap will get their attention, but if they're being hormonally driven to be agressive, you really can't do much with to modify their behavior. anyway, we gave up trying to teach him not to have the personality he had and switched to haltering and snubbing, which worked reliably.

because your ewe is getting more agressive, and being that agressive is not typical for ewes, I'd be concerned about hormonal imbalances. ditto on what an earlier poster said about the cost of tests being higher than the value of the animal... you could call your vet to discuss options, but it might be time to trade out this one for a nicer animal.

in addition, sheep teach each other things, and her lamb may have already learned behavior that you can't unteach. you won't know this until you have only the lamb, not the ewe for her to follow.

We had one ewe with what we suspect were hormonal issues - she never settled when bred, and was wild, unmanageable, a fence jumper, and got harder to catch or herd into the pen. if you're progressively losing ground, as we were with this ewe, it only gets worse, not better. she went to market and we got a much nicer ewe to replace her, one that's given us half a dozen nice lambs and isn't a problem to handle.

 

[melody]

Thanks again All:
Bossroo, I saw your, Jenn's and Aggie's posts on the other page as well. I am investigating getting her and her lamb into a larger herd. However, I shared your thoughts with my friend who might take her so as to be completely honest.
Jenn..was it you who talked about a touch on the flank getting her to move...well..she is clearly part mule. It takes a whole lot of intention and rod work to get her moving. She just leans into me (or whomever) and pushes. I always get the win, but my sister is a bit more skittish and I need to rescue occasionally.
Since this behavior came on so suddenly after a blissful summer...perhaps Bossroo is correct.
I will keep you updated.

 

[melody]

zzGypsy:
Thank you for your indepth response. It helps so much. Yes...she actually rears up on her back legs sometimes and jumps ...trying that tactic. She stopped when I did it back..I mean, really..nobody needs to see that. But she tries it with my sister who I mentioned is a bit more skittish. And the sister frequently forgets her rod when going out to do something.
I will keep you all posted...clearly she needs a new home or a chance at returning to a new body after returning to the void.

 

[melody]

So here is the update. I see no further development in her possible pregnancy and she would be due in one week if she was. Her butting continues. She has taken to knocking into the trees and posts as well. She did this to the fruit trees earlier in the season but this is just ramming her head into any tree or post. I do wonder if she has too much testosterone..or the sheep equivalent. Her head is shaped very much like what I imagine a ram's head to be..quite noble and strong looking.
Anyway, the woman I bought her from has offered to take both back. The sad end of this is that this ewe was originally slated for "harvest" this fall before she came to me. Seems like she will meet her destiny after all. For now, they are both still here enjoying a fine life.