how do you get sheep to like you?

Michelle98 · #1 07/20/12, 12:32 PM

Our 2 ewes we have had a couple weeks and they won't come near any of us. How can you care for them if they hate you?

Aslo, we just got a 4 month ram last night....how do you raise a ram to be as gentle as possible?

Darntootin · #2 07/20/12, 12:38 PM

When you find out let me know. I bought 4 sheep last week, picking them up next week...from what I can tell they run as fast as they can when anyone tries to approach. The lady that sold them to me said they are trained to come to the sound of the grain bucket. We'll see

Fowler · #3 07/20/12, 12:39 PM

Take a chair out there everyday and sit with them. Just remember to remove the chair...LOL they are curious creatures.

And dont worry about the Ram they are natural lovers, it's the ewes that are flighty.

Fowler · #4 07/20/12, 12:40 PM

And having grain helps the process....lol

Callieslamb · #5 07/20/12, 12:42 PM

grain, animal crackers, apples.....but I have no illusions it's me they like.

Or you can raise them from a bottle. I run mine into a stall in the barn to catch them for worming or foot trimming. The rams, I keep a collar on so I can catch them easily and keep them from doing what rams are prone to do to people. I don't have brush or anything for them to catch the collar on so I don't have to worry about them hanging themselves

Michelle98 · #6 07/20/12, 12:44 PM

Those are some good ideas. Thank you! I will try the chair and food idea today.

the ram will let us scratch him. Hopefully that will last.

Fowler · #7 07/20/12, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michelle98

Those are some good ideas. Thank you! I will try the chair and food idea today.

the ram will let us scratch him. Hopefully that will last.

oh yeah...it will last more then you know...LOL

Sunmill · #8 07/20/12, 05:03 PM

Don't make a pet out of your ram.
Tie him up with a halter for 15-20min/day to get him halter trained, that will definitely come in handy. Otherwise, just leave him alone and don't encourage his advances.

As for the others, a little grain goes a LONG way

spinandslide · #9 07/20/12, 06:33 PM

Having the ram halter trained definantly comes in handy..but I always keep an eye on any ram..they are rams.

Establish some groundrules with him early on.

As for the ewes..this depends on breed, previous handling and individual personalities. I have one ewe Ive had for awhile and she is still nutty,..and I even halterbroke her! Ive also had ewes who were born friendly and halterbroke.

As was suggested, sitting out with them, and giving goodies to the brave souls who come up to you helps get them friendly.

Callieslamb · #10 07/20/12, 06:36 PM

I don't know that you can ever make a pet of a scattering ewe.
A sheep's only defense is to run so they like to keep their options open. Mine don't even like to go into a 3-sided shelter. They tolerate my touching them while they are in the stall eating their grain. I can easily catch any of them when confined. But out in the pasture, only the bottle raised ewe and the rams come up for petting. After 3 years of treats, the ones that don't like petting, still don't like petting.

Illini · #11 07/20/12, 07:19 PM

Dobbin's Delights (apple-oatmeal treats from TSC)

My sheep would walk through fire for a small bite of one of these.

Best wishes,

Kathy

Carol K · #12 07/21/12, 07:02 AM

Kathy I use those treats also for my cows and the sheep love them, however they are high in copper and I never know how many are too many for the sheep.

Carol K

jwal10 · #13 07/21/12, 08:17 AM

Spend time with them. Treats or a little grain. Be calm always. Rams.... don't mess with or scratch around their heads, they think you are playing and can get rough butting and move on to hurting you. If you have one prone to butting watch, carry a stick. Be firm and hit him across the nose to get him to back off. Don't keep hitting, he needs to know you mean buisness. I will get rid of a butting ram....James

Maura · #14 07/21/12, 05:26 PM

At four months, your ram should be calm. As stated above, do not make a pet out of him. The reason a ram will come up to you for petting or treats is because he is the highest ranking and most confident sheep. As he gets older he will become the king of the sheep and may see you as someone to butt. The older he gets the more dominant and aggressive he will get. If you feel he is dangerous, it's time for freezer camp.

Maxpowers · #15 07/22/12, 12:03 AM

Hi, noob here. Just got my first sheep a couple weeks ago and they were pretty flighty. By day 5 they would follow me anywhere with a grain bucket.

I bought a bag of sheep feed just to use a training tool. For the first few days I would put a scoop of feed into the bucket and approach them shaking the bucket around to have them associate that sound with the bucket. At first they wanted nothing to do with me so I would leave the bucket in the pasture for them to later investigate and associate the bucket with good things. I only did that for two or three days so they wouldn't think they would get treats by ignoring me. Sure enough by day 5, I shake the bucket and they all start walking towards me. They would still keep a distance and stop if I stopped but I can get them all the way into the barn this way.

Using this method I'm still making progress. Once I make it to the barn I pour the food into a trough. I was actually able to pull a tick from one of their ears the other day while they ate.

chamoisee · #16 07/22/12, 12:14 AM

I wouldn't worry too much about them liking you. They are sheep. Sheep are not, contrary to their appearance, typically cuddly sorts of animals who come up to be loved on, as goats often are. Bottle babies may be, but my understanding is that bottle baby sheep are just as annoying to deal with as caprine bottle babies....

The ram especially you do not want to be friendly or a pet. He needs to respect you and unfortunately that requires a small amount of natural (not human induced) fear.

Cliff · #17 07/22/12, 06:41 AM

Strongly agree not to make a pet out of a ram. How will you feel when he has to be sold for meat because you made him a pet and he turned dangerous? What is cute now will not be so in a year when he's bigger. If they're too familiar with you they'll feel the need to dominate you when they're mature. Very dangerous. You have to be careful around rams even if they aren't pets but it's helpful to keep a respectful distance.

houndlover · #18 07/22/12, 10:25 PM

My sheep don't like me. They will follow a bucket of feed, and even eat out it (warily). They were born here, so no trauma. They are cared for just fine. When ever they need something, they're run through a chute, caught, and whatever needs done is done. Sheep don't need to be handled daily, or even weekly. They are, or should be, very hardy animals.

**bergere** · #19 07/23/12, 04:08 PM

After the halter training, my wethers always come up to me to see what I am doing, and ask for itches. The new ewe, is figuring it out pretty quick too. ;O)
At this point in my life, I pretty much have them for pets and lawn mowers.

plowjockey · #20 07/23/12, 06:21 PM

Out of 9 ewes, I have 3 that I can pat on the head.

The rest no way.

Slev · #21 07/23/12, 10:11 PM

...well, it takes a little bit of sheep whisperin'

and some good ear rubbin' (notice several of my Border Collies around me, and still the sheep line up for an ear rub.)

and then maybe, expand your abilities...

earthkitty · #22 07/23/12, 10:20 PM

I have a 1 1/2 year old ram, a 1 1/2 year old ewe that I bought a few months ago, a 1 1/2 year old wether, and two month old ewes. They all like to be loved on. None were born here, and they were purchased here and there. Two were bottle babies, the rest were not. One Babydoll, one EF (ram), one Shrop and two crosses.

Go figure.

I had a family reunion out here at my farm this past Friday, and all the sheep allowed people to pet them. It was my cats that ran for cover!

Be patient, be gentle, and spend time with them. When they figure out you aren't a threat, they'll come around. It may take a while though.

Laurie J · #23 07/24/12, 03:06 AM

We've found that our ewes always gentle down when they are in a jug with lambs for the first time as yearlings. It's nice to have friendly, gentle sheep, especially at shearing time or when needing to administer any medications or worming. As for rams, we've had one that no matter how nice we were to him, he truly wanted to kill us! My husband decided he was too dangerous, and put him down. Rams, at least large meat breeds - probably not shetlands or babydolls - are potentially dangerous and should be treated with respect and be wary of them. Don't try to pet them or you'll having a testosterone charged 300 lb.animal who has no fear of you ....not a good thing!!!!!

macly · #24 07/24/12, 06:32 AM

Even smaller breed Shetland rams can get dangerous. We sent ours to freezer camp this spring. Take the advice others have laid out. Do not make a pet out of him. We made that mistake and right around 10 months old he started demanding attention (by butting) that got worse as he got older. Eventually even a stick smacked on the ground or across his nose was not enough to deter him. Keep that ram standoffish.

Fowler · #25 07/24/12, 06:50 AM

Michelle, you can make your sheep pets/friendly if you choose too. All mine are friendly, if your ram turns out to be a but head then lesson learned. I have 2 rams and one super friendly and the otherloves attention but will ram me if I turn my back. But I love them all. But my sheep are only 24 inches tall.

There's a lot of good advice here, but in the end the choice is yours.

LibertyWool · #26 07/24/12, 08:57 AM

My rams don't fear me, but they also don't challenge me. I keep a working relationship with them and always have. When they were young and tried to butt me, I diffuse the situation by setting them on their rump or side. Much easier to do when they are 100lb vs 250-300 as they end up to be. Doing that is a non escalating behaviour.

If you don't understand how a ram communicates, you might make some common mistakes that can lead to problems down the road. When a ram comes up and pushes against you with his head, don't push back. That is an aggressive play behaviour which you do not want to encourage. Also when you handle a rams head, never scratch or pat the top of the head (like you would a dog), again this is aggressive behaviour (like other have said). If you have to handle the head, do it from the jaw. Also, if he is in your way, move him out of the way don't go out around him. He needs to see you as the leader, which means he needs to respect your space. Also, don't turn your back on him, that is just asking to get hit.

Look for ways to interact that don't encourage bad behaviour. I have one ram that loves to hit hay bales with his head. So I will throw in some hay for him to eat while I move bales in (ie distract him), so that he doesn't come after the bale I'm carrying.

We all make mistakes with our first ram, so do your best.

ShadowfaxFarm · #27 07/25/12, 07:37 AM

Love Liberty's ram advice. My rams are calm and manageable however they got set on their rumps/side a couple times as "teenagers". Anytime a ram wants to put his head on me/against me I hold under his chin and tip his nose way up high. Hitting a ram never works only makes bad behavior worse as they think you're challenging them. My one ram is a huge love-bug but he did go through a stage where I set him on his butt several times. Sitting them on their butt for me (my rams are HUGE even at a young age) involves grabbing under there chins and lifting up while pushing backwards until they sit or actually fall down. Then I hold them down for a bit to reaffirm that I am dominant without a fight.

LibertyWool · #28 07/25/12, 10:15 AM

Thanks Shadowfax. I also like your lifting the head up high from the chin. That works well too.

Michelle98 · #29 07/30/12, 06:19 PM

I will take the ram advise. I am going to read your responses to my son who cares for the sheep.

I wanted to thank the person that wrote about sitting in the sheep pen. It is working! the ewes are starting to like my son. Thank you!

nobrabbit · #30 08/05/12, 11:12 AM

When we've bought ewes it seems like they are always standoffish until they get pregnant. Then all they want is to be petted and rubbed. We raised our ram and he was friendly until he started breeding. He got so aggressive that my husband finally had to use the hotshot on him a couple of months ago. Ever since then he's been a perfect gentleman.