[Jacob-list] ewe behaviour

[Linda]

I recently witnessed an interesting ewe/ewe interaction.  Inga was described to me as "obnoxious" and bossy by Mary Ellen, her breeder, and Cathy, who picked her up for me from Mary Ellen's.  When she arrived here, she was pretty far down the pecking order and I'd only seen her boss around the lambs.  I just didn't see any sort of bossy behaviour once I got her home.  She did beat up on Gracie most of the way home from Cathy's, but I understand she is not a very good traveler, but does calm down if you play Veggie Tales for her :-)

Anyway, the other day, Inga and Viva were trying to beat each other up.  This was one of the first cool days (and it seems like the last cool day for awhile) and the ewes do tend to get feisty as breeding season approaches.  I saw this behaviour from Inga three times, so I don't think it was a fluke.  When Viva would come towards her in an aggressive manner, Inga would place her top horns between Viva's top horns and flip Viva over on her side, using the leverage of her horns and a quick head twist to one side.  Neither ewe was damaged and they finally decided to just stay away from each other.  

Linda
Meet our new blue eyed spotted baby :-)
http://www.patchworkfibers.com/whatsnew.html
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