new sheep - breed? and other questions

[dwbonfire]

do NOT make friends with ram sheep. Never ever ever. When they are grown and the hormones kick in, they will not be your friend anymore. They also won't be friends with each other anymore, no matter if they were raised together. What if you wether one of them and leave the other intact? The wether can be the companion of the intact one. Do not let them become pets to you. You want them to have a healthy respect for you. If they lose all fear of humans, they can be dangerous. Never flick or hit them anywhere on the face or head as that encourages butting. A squirt in the face with a water bottle is much safer. That one that is already butting into your legs.....that's bad news. Carry a water bottle to squirt him with whenever you are with them and do not let him push your legs.

ok i will start to carry a water bottle. to be honest a gave him a little tap on the nose and he didnt like that, and he really hasnt done it since. again, i had two rams that were intact as pets before. one was bottle fed, he was like a dog he never was aggressive. the other was not bottle fed, and you had to watch him for sure. he was never as friendly as the other, or as these two i have now. they got along even as they were older, but do you think it was because i didnt have any females? so basically if i add a couple females these two will start to fight? would they just establish a pecking order or would this be constant bad fighting? does anyone ever keep a herd of sheep with more than one ram in it?
hmmm i'll have to decide which one to wether.. maybe the one thats already a little more pushy.

 

[Beekissed]

Most rams will fight, especially with ewes present. Most people keep more than one ram but they generally can't keep them together without some amount of fighting.

 

[rockdoveranch]

They look very similar to my katahdin lambs... If so, they are hair sheep and do not need to be sheared...

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/1598_lambs.jpg

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/1598_lambs_running.jpg

Love the pictures!

 

[rockdoveranch]

I agree with everything carolinagirl said.

As far as breed or breed mix, I haven't a clue.

Hair versus wool? Hard to say until you have gone through an entire winter. Some of our hair sheep have pretty heavy wool coats in the winter and still look like wool sheep well into the summer, and we are along the Texas Gulf coast where it is hot and humid. Some never do shed out their winter wool entirely.

As for shearing, they certainly do not look like they need shearing now. In the afternoon when they are laying down they are probably enjoying their morning grass.

 

[SheepGirl]

The red lamb in the second picture looks like a Tunis cross--not pure Tunis because of the white spot, but I definitely see a Tunis face on it.