Adding sheep

[Snowytails]

New to sheep. We are trying to add 2 ewes to our ram and ewe pair (the ewe is pregnant). They're Shetland sheep. We are not sure how to integrate them. Do we need to worry about our ram? Will he readily accept the new ewes?

 

[mysunwolf]

Welcome to BYH and to sheep

Best practice is to quarantine the new sheep for 2-4 weeks in a separate location from your current sheep to make sure they don't have any obvious illnesses. We also deworm the new sheep. I have skipped quarantine a number of times and it has never turned out well.

When you do integrate them, the ram should readily accept the new ewes as more girls for his harem . I have never had a ram get too rough with the ewes, however it does happen. If you think he is being too aggressive with them, you can separate them with a strong fenceline and try to integrate them at a future date.

 

[Snowytails]

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes, they've been quarantined already....

 

[Gorman Farm]

When we had a ram come last year we stalled him for 15 days, had the vet examine, draw blood, and do a fecal. Meanwhile, when I cleaned the stall he was in, I stripped and burned the straw and manure away from the sheep area. This prevents new parasites from being introduced to your herd. Luckily all was well with him and we were able to introduce him to our ewes without incident.