Ewe rams a lot. Ways to train her to stop?

[Southdown]

Send her to freezer camp asap before she hurts you or yours !!!!!!!!

Since I'm a vegetarian, there won't be a freezer camp, lol. But I would like to work with her. Her lamb is very healthy and showing great qualities. She's less likely to bother if you are just standing around chilling and not touching her.

We have a Suffolk ewe that is quite aggressive with other sheep, but not with us. She just doesn't seem to like other sheep as much as humans. This ewe seems to be the opposite. I still suspect it has to do with the feeding treats from my hand. That is how we tamed her in the first place. But now she must think she can ram and gets food somehow.

I would surmise that vegetarians need more health insurance for healthcare than a carnivore like me.

I would suspect that my cholesterol and triglycerides are lower.

My topic isn't about vegetarianism, I'm looking for ideas of training sheep or open to hearing if others have had similar ewes. Dogs are a liability too and many people have dogs in their homes that are not trustworthy.

 

[Southdown]

Yes, I do feel she's a good breeding ewe. I bought her from another breeder specifically to be a breeding ewe for me.

I think the way they are raised certainly plays a role. Our ram is very rammy because he was raised as a bottle baby and never feared humans. Most people would not put up with that in a ram. I don't know why our Suffolk ewe doesn't get along with other sheep (but humans are fine). If I butchered every sheep with bad behavior, I wouldn't have much of a flock left. I didn't raise them all myself, but purchased several of them. So what was done in the past is done. But I do believe animals can sometimes be worked with. Now that the ewe's baby is getting bigger and running around, I have noticed she is a bit less protective of him. She may chill out more when he's grown. I might try the setting her down/time out thing if she rams for no reason at all.

 

[doxiemoxie]

Does she only ram you once you are already at her side? If so a trick you can use is to place your foot around one of her legs and when she goes to hit you pull her leg out from under her. She may stumble into you a few times but this type of trick generally gets the point across quickly and without you having to change your position very much. Plus they don't get hand shy. If she's charging you from a ways a way you can carry a small stick (about 2') that SHE will run into and poke herself. You just hold it steady. And if you're where you might have your back turned to her you can wave the stick back and forth across your backside so it will slap her if she gets close -although you should never turn your back on her.

 

[Southdown]

Yes, she only rams when I am by her side, never from far away. She tends to ram my "hands" the most, in search of food I suspect. If I just stand around with no food and do nothing, she won't do anything. I think if she realizes I don't have anything, she won't bother.