[Jacob-list] 1st yr. with sheep

Mon Jun 26 21:33:27 EDT 2006

Welcome to the world of Jacobs.  I used to feed my
sheep with a rack till we lost too many horns...and
not just baby horns.  they get in there and fight over
another sheep getting a great invisible morsel and a
horn gets caught.  When a lamb loses a horn it is too
bad but when a yearling loses a horn in a feeder it is
the worst bloody mess you will cope with.  So we got
those big round rubber tubs and put the hay in those. 
It is helpful to have at least 3 as the herd queen
will not be able to dominate them all.   We seperate
them far apart too to give everyone a chance.  When we
give supplements, alfalpha buds/grain to nursing moms
we use multiples of the shallow feeders that hang on
the fence wire and seperate them well too.  Use
nothing that they can really put their horns into and
we have a much better record of hanging on to the
horns.
   The friendly ram is a problem we had too with our
first ram.  They are more assertive about coming up
because they are rams.  All the shepherds on this list
recommended against getting friendly with him.  But
did we listen????No, we looked in those big brown eyes
and melted.  The next year we were having to use ice
hocky shin guards to get in to do anything with him. 
By that time he did not want scratches, he wanted to
level us and I still have the leg scars to prove it. 
My yearling ram does the same thing that yours does
now but I have little contact with him except to feed
him and look after his needs.  We also have him
seperated in a large section where he can get the
exercise he needs to stay calmer.  Ask lots of
experienced shepherds and they will tell you how rams
can become very distructive of buildings and
fences...so don't let it be your shins.
   The way it was explained to me is that when the ram
becomes sexually mature if you are a male, it will see
you as a competitor and you know from nature programs
how 2 rams get along if they are not together all the
time.  If you are a female the ram considers you part
of his flock and needs to dominate you.  This helped
me understand why we should never treat rams anyway
other than what they are..potentially dangerous.  You
know the slogan Dodge uses "ram tough".

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>    1. Green broke and horn break (Bill Hyslip)
>    2. interesting article from UK (Marguerite Van
> Beek)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:05:51 -0700
> From: "Bill Hyslip" <slipclan at mindspring.com>
> Subject: [Jacob-list] Green broke and horn break
> To: "jacob-list" <jacob-list at jacobsheep.com>
> Message-ID: <410-2200661262355193 at mindspring.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> 
> Hi guys,
> 
> As most of you have figured out by now, this is my
> first year with Jacobs.  So far it has been an
> awesome experience.  When the lambing was all said
> and done this Spring, I ended up with 8 lovely ewe
> lambs and 1 studly little ram lamb with no problems
> whatsoever.  I DO have a couple of questions though.
> 
> #1.  5 out of 8 ewe lambs have broken a primary
> horn.  They are all growing out, but I was wondering
> if this is the norm?  I'm using some portable hay
> feeders and I suspect they are the culprit.
> 
> #2.  I know there are those who say that befriending
> a ram is taboo, but my 3 month old ram lamb makes it
> a habit of meeting me at the gate for scratches and
> petting.  It's kind of hard to resist seeing as how
> the rest of the sheep seem to barely acknowledge my
> presence unless it's feeding time.  Question
> is.......should I start ignoring the little guy for
> fear that he will become too comfortable and perhaps
> dangerous at some point in time?  What are your
> experiences with friendly rams?
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Bill Hyslip
> Mountain Memories Farm
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> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 19:38:32 -0400
> From: "Marguerite Van Beek" <pegvanbeek at msn.com>
> Subject: [Jacob-list] interesting article from UK
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> End of Jacob-list Digest, Vol 20, Issue 21
> ******************************************
> 

Victoria
Castle Rock Farm
Jacob Sheep & Nigerian Dwarf Goats
www.castlerockfarm.net

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