Wether butting 6 year old son

[sheepguyincali]

Well, this morning we tried a different approach. Boy and I entered pen. Boy took care of all the feeding. No butting. Then the boy walked around with a bucket of grain and hand fed the various animals including the wether. No butting. I was prepared to take him down if he tried to butt the boy but it never happened. Instead of being seen as a threat, the boy was seen as the "Candy Man". We will try this approach for a few days to see if it conditions the wether to associate small kids with delicious treats. If he butts again, he's gone.

 

[SheepGirl]

Be careful with that approach--he may butt if he thinks he should get more feed and it's not coming his way.

 

[sheepguyincali]

Ok. Makes sense. So far my only other approach is either getting rid of the sheep or avoidance which limits the kids interaction with our animals. Any other ideas?

 

[SheepGirl]

Give your son a squirt gun. Not a wimpy one but like a high pressure one. Fill it with water and let him squirting the wether in his face anytime he shows signs that he might ram, like looking at him from the side, backing up, etc. Just tell him not to squirting his sisters lol

 

[sheepguyincali]

Thanks! Has this worked for you in the past? Will it cure him from butting in general, or just the behavior towards that one kid. I really don't want him butting any kids that come to visit (or my other children).

 

[SheepGirl]

I have never tried it but I have heard other shepherds recommend this practice.

 

[woodsie]

Be careful with that approach--he may butt if he thinks he should get more feed and it's not coming his way.

X2…in my experience, most rams get more aggressive when you bring out the grain. In general the top/boss gets the most grain and they dont' have a problem coming at you either. That grain bucket makes them CRAZY! at least around here.

 

[sheepguyincali]

Well, so far the grain thing seems to be working. Luckily, he is a wether so he isn't particularly aggressive about the grain (other than the aforementioned occasional butting). So far, he hasn't butted the kids since we implemented the grain program. He gives him a small handful of grain when he enters the pen and that seems to do the trick. We'll see if it continues like this.

 

[Bossroo]

This hand feeding may work for a while, then one day when the son turns around ...... I will once again recommend that you invite this sheep to a BBQ as the guest of honor and save him and yourself some grief.

 

[purplequeenvt]

I'm with Bossroo on this one. Grain/treats can turn the nicest, gentlest sheep (and goats) into monsters. The rule on our farm is, if they aggressive, they're gone. We don't even sell them, they go in the freezer.