[Jacob-list] wethers and rams

[Betty Berlenbach]

I often put the three month old boys in with the rams, so the rams can "make men of them".  No problems at all with the jacobs. Occasionally one of the shetlands decided to beat up the jacob lambs, but that happens if and only if there's no senior jacob ram in there. If there's a big jacob, the shetland behaves!

I find that putting a much younger wether in works well. Most wethers are smart enough, or small enough, to NOT challenge the big ram, and hence there is no jostling to speak of. The big ram orientates the wether: tells him what the rules are, who's in charge, etc., and the wether generally says, "Yes, sir."  Even young ram lambs respond that way when there's a real difference in size, so it's clear who's in charge.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: gordon johnston 
  To: Meg Steensland ; jacob-list at jacobsheep.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 8:50 AM
  Subject: [Jacob-list] wethers and rams


  << RE: try keeping a wether - can you put a wethered lamb in with a mature ram - when - like in the fall when wether is 9 months or more?  Or is it better to start with two same age guys?>>

  Probably better to start with two of the same age, but that doesn't always suit.
  Here we separate our wether and ram lambs from the dams at about 4 months and sometimes put them straight in with the mature rams, or we run them on in a group together then put them in with the rams in late autumn.  There is always some jostling for position, but the wethers usually recognise their place in the hierarchy very quickly !
  I think it is unlikely that there would be a problem putting a single wether in with a single ram outside of the breeding season, but you would need to watch and see how they got on and intervene if the welcome got too enthusiastic !  In practice, the two would probably already recognise eachother from contact through the fence.
  The only wether we have had a problem with was bought in (a Manx Loaghtan bought for his lovely coloured fleece) who really thought he was an entire ram (definitely not, not even a rigg) .  He was in with the ewe hoggs and old biddies, but pushed them around and generally acted like a rude ram, so he was unceremoniously tossed in with the rams where he continues to act just like them.  He will shortly be a very tasty freezer full , once he has been shorn of that lovely fleece ! From the rams point of view of course there is always the possibility that he is a ewe (short memories) so he is forever being chased about but he gives as good as he gets !  
  One ram and one wether would I think just become good friends. There would be the problem of what to do with the wether when the ram was in with the ewes, but perhaps he would be ok in there too, just one more possible ewe to be checked out at frequent intervals !!

  Juliet in Scotland


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