So the worst day of the year was today. It is the day the rams are put back together after breeding. After all 4 rams were in the pen with tires to try to minimize the force of their butting, Shaun and DC decided to team up against Jocko. He is our oldest ram and already is beat up from the fenceline brawls. He was standing his ground but not fighting back. Tom and I had to pull him out of there before he was killed. We put some bluecote on him and put him in his own field with hay and water. After a couple of days I will try and find a nice wether to keep him company. This day of the year I hate rams.
Yep, right there with you. He looks pretty beat up but hopefully he will be OK. Do the rams try to beat up the wether’s?
He is pretty beat up. He is laying down this afternoon. I sure hope he will be OK. I have not had problems with wethers.
ouch- looks like he got hit pretty hard. good thing you got him out of there when you did. those young punks ain’t got no respect!
He did get hit hard. If he does not make it I am going to feel sick that I put him in there in the first place. Stupid rams!
Ouch! I hope Jocko’s okay – keep us posted, Donna. Minnie, Fergus, Lorna and CJ (Cinnamon Jr.), all hope dad’s feeling better soon!
Jocko seems a little confused this morning- I found him standing at the back corner of the pasture. It is hard to know if his confusion is from a head injury or from the events of yesterday. His shepherd took him away from his ewe, put him in a pen with 3 rams, watched as they beat him up and them yanked him out into a pasture by himself. He did come over and eat hay for me though. He may not trust me anymore. He has always been such a well behaved ram, he does not deserve this.
Don’t beat yourself up too much, Donna – you couldn’t know they’d all be so amped up that they’d tag team on him. And, unfortunately, it is the way that animals are – picking on the weaker one, even when we don’t see the weakness. He’s older, and they probably see/understand more of the little things as he slows down with age that we humans don’t/wouldn’t see until it’s more obvious. It’s the one thing about keeping animals that I find hard to take, the bullying and ostracizing they will do with aplomb, and certainly without any remorse. Baby your older fellow, a little grain and some treats, and the company of a wether buddy and I bet he’ll be back to his old self.
Hi Donna,
We pulled our two new Finn rams from the ewes and put them together in a small stall in the barn filled with lots of tires but still they went crazy pummeling each other. We had to separate them. I hope they are calmed down today!
Hi Jody, I hope your rams calm down. As soon as we took Jocko out of the pen, the remaining three rams have been quite peaceful. Go figure.
I hope he is okay he looks pretty beaten up…. poor guy 🙁
Thanks Seasonsgirl! Jocko is doing better. I moved him into the barn and kicked the mean rams out of there. Jocko was jumping up on the walls of the pen trying to figure out how to get to the girls. I will find him a friend today to keep him company.
Good idea 🙂
It’s a good thing that rams don’t have access to firearms. Imagine the carnage!
Yes, they do plenty of carnage without additional weapons (besides their horns).
Yaoza – poor guy – I’m glad we only have one ram at at time – when we had two it was awful. Sure you don’t want to add Vern to your flock – he and Galloway have prize winning fleeces. (she said, trying to keep them from the auction block…) Oh, well, that’s farm life. T.
He got beat up pretty good. Tom would not let me get Vern. He is ready to shoot the ones we already have. I really hope he does not go to the auction block.