Butternut Valley Farm

We didn’t need to keep our own ram. The biggest Shropshire sheep farmer in the state lived only 30 minutes away, and he was always willing to hire out. We called it our ”rent-a-ram” program. All the animals from this farm were high quality, registered stock. Some had even been entered in the big midwest breed shows. We had fun each year anticipating who he would pick out. Usually it was one of the promising spring ram lambs, which was fine with me. I’ve always been surprised at how well even the smaller, younger rams performed. It all worked out great. We would pick up in early October, and return around Thanksgiving. This allowed the ewes two complete estrus cycles, or about 34 days.

Last year was an exception. We brought home a big, 200+ lb, full-grown yearling ram. Everyone liked him. He had a gentle personality which is important in a small family farm setting. For no particular reason, we named him Sebastian. We were sad to bring him back at the end of the breeding season. 

The following spring we received a not-so-surprising phone call. My friend, mentor, and fellow Shropshire breeder was selling the farm and moving back to the Old Dominion (Virginia). He was trying to keep the flock all-together, but wanted us to have one of the rams. The rent-a-ram program would have to be scrapped. So, a couple weeks later, Sebastian moved to his new home, and we found ourselves with a permanent ram.

If we hadn’t know his disposition from the previous season, we would have been more cautious. Perhaps the biggest drawback to keeping your own ram is having to deal with aggressive behavior. I recommend observing a ram for a bit before committing to taking him home. Nobody wants a battering ram. They can be quite dangerous, especially with children around. Every ram instinctively seeks to protect and dominate his flock, but it varies by degree from animal to animal. Rams who regularly threaten and butt their shepherds often start at an early age. It’s less common to see them adopt that behavior later on.

A ram wearing a shield. Photo courtesy of Premier1.

There are practices which discourage the development of bad habits. First and foremost, never turn your back on any ram. It signals submission. If a ram walks up to you, or is standing head-on staring, that can be threatening posture. You need to be the boss. You want the ram to turn first. Don’t be overly friendly with your ram. You want him to be a little scared of you. Don’t scratch or rub his head, especially if he tends to lower it when you do. Be prepared to administer a sharp switch to his muzzle if he won’t back down. When all else fails, a ram shield masks his forward vision, and curtails aggressive behavior, while allowing all other functions. It’s not a permanent solution though. Inevitably, incorrigible, problem animals should be culled.

Fortunately, Sebastian is as gentle as they come. Our only issue, and perhaps the second biggest drawback to keeping your own ram, is the need for physical separation.  There’s nothing which says you can’t run a ram with your flock year round, au naturel. Many hobby farmers do. We just like more control of the lambing calendar. I’m also uneasy about rams intermingling with newborn or young lambs, and even with ewes  heavy with lamb. The ram can inadvertedly and unintentionally cause serious injury. So, we isoloate Sebastian for two periods during the year in his own strong pasture and pen area.

The first period is early fall. Shropshire sheep don’t breed out of season. That means there is almost no chance of ewes getting bred during the summer. Sebastian runs with the flock. Come September though, he moves into his isolated area, preferably with a companion whether. We like to lamb the second week of March, so he gets turned-in again the second week of October.

The next isoation period is before, during, and after lambing. Once the lambs are 3 or 4 weeks old, strong and fast, and used to escaping to their creep, Sebastian makes his return.

Aside from aggressive behavior and separation needs, there is one other obvious consideration to keeping a single ram for multiple seasons. That consideration is inbreeding. This might sound terrible, but it is actually a common practice called in-line breeding. In order to accentuate genetics in the flock, a desirable ram is allowed to breed with his 1st in-line daughters. This results in 2nd in-line ewe lambs which are 3/4 of his genetics. Those ewes in turn should be bred with a different ram, and thus the original ram’s desirable traits are extended to future generations.

Our flock is in something of a static condition. We’re small. Occasionally a ewe is lost or culled, and a replacement ewe lamb is saved. Any replacement  now of course will be Sebastian’s daughter, so at some point in-line breeding will be a factor. That’s a couple years out though. Plus, when that time comes, we would make a point of marketing any 2nd in-line bred lambs and not breeding them on our farm.

The bottom line is that this ram’s gentle personality, the available facilities to separate him at times, and the fact that we are not out to grow our flock that much… all of that makes keeping Sebastian an easy proposition. No more rent-a-ram for us. This one is here to stay.

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