By Joyce Weaver

 Recently I was scrolling through YouTube on the internet to entertain myself one evening and I came upon the subject of dangerous rams. One video depicted what you DON’T want to do with a ram – encourage it to butt and attack you. The young man was delighting in waving a stick over his head as if to say to the ram “I dare you” while the person recording the video was giggling in the background. The ram took up the challenge and repeatedly charged at him. The man broke the stick over his head a couple times, then being young and athletic he was able to grab the horns of the ram and scratch him on the top of the head which to a ram means “good boy” – do it again.

Any time you touch the top of a ram’s head that stimulates a butting response from the ram. It’s in their genes and just natural for them to respond in this manner. If you want to “pet” your ram, scratch him under his chin and not on top of the head.

If you are in the unfortunate circumstance of owning a dangerous ram, my recommendation is to get rid of him as soon as possible. They are not a comical joke but can be very dangerous and even lethal to their human handlers or children that may enter their pen or pasture. There was a large Suffolk ram which actually killed an elderly couple who had entered his pasture to give him a bucket of grain. He knocked the elderly man with a cane down and repeatedly butted him as he kept trying to get up. His elderly wife came running out to try and help him and she too was attacked. Unfortunately, both died. Not a funny picture. This is serious stuff folks.

I can speak on this topic from my own personal experience. When I first started raising sheep, I was into Dorset-Finn cross wool sheep. I purchased a mature Dorset ram from a fellow whom I later learned had two young boys who loved to play with, wrestle and ride on the back of this ram as it was growing up. So, the ram learned not to be afraid of people and had no respect. One day my flock got out of their pasture into the yard and I was trying to entice them back through the gate to their pasture with a bucket of grain which I rattled to get their attention. Of course, they all came running at full speed at me with the bucket standing just inside the pasture gate. At that moment the rest of the flock ran around me missing me but not the ram. He hit me full blast at a full gallop on my left side, nearly blowing out my left knee and thigh. I fell to the ground and if it weren’t for the grain that had fallen on the ground to distract him, I would have been in even worse shape trying to escape.

I managed to painfully struggle to my feet and get the gate shut. But I knew instantly I had been seriously injured and would deal with that injury for several years. In fact, I still was in pain 20 years later and finally had my knee replaced, which helped tremendously.

My next encounter was with a Columbia ram. The Columbia breed of wool sheep are known for their large size and excellent fleece. I had developed a pretty good-sized flock of Dorset sheep by this time and decided to add a Columbia ram to enhance the wool and size of my lambs. He was a nice looking fullblood registered Columbia who came from a good flock of show sheep. And he was BIG. He was in with the ewes when a few of them started having lambs. I was in the barn going about picking up lambs and getting the little families into lambing jugs so wasn’t paying attention to him. I turned around just in time to see him charging as he hit me in the left hip and waist (due to his larger size). I was holding a newborn lamb so swung it around in his direction which distracted him just long enough for me to escape harm’s way. The saying “never turn your back on a ram” held true here.

My next encounter was with a purchased black head Dorper-Katahdin ram that I bought when I was just starting to convert my wool flock over to hair sheep. He was very aggressive and would come after me every time he saw me. One time I actually had to jump the fence to get away from him. (I was younger and more athletic then). He went bye-bye soon also.

My last aggressive ram was another purchased off the farm; it was of Katahdin breeding.  He too tried to take me out every time he saw me. A friend took him off my hands and didn’t have the trouble I had with him. That ram ultimately killed himself by getting his head caught in a round bale feeder and dragging it all over the yard before hanging himself in it – another reason why I don’t use round bale feeders anymore. I have lost a few ewes and lambs caught in them too.

The next ram I purchased off the farm was a St. Croix hair sheep. He proved to be very gentle and NEVER offered to attack me. I crossed the St. Croix on my Dorper-cross ewes and learned that was the quickest way to get a slick hair coat on my sheep and get improved mothering, worm resistance and hardly any more lambing difficulties. I’ve heard reports from other breeders using St. Croix rams that they were very gentle, calm and produced ewes who were easy lambers and more parasite resistant. I have found that also to be true with my flock. The St. Croix breed is the main breed in the development of the Katahdin breed, which many of you probably already know. So many of the desirable traits from the Katahdin usually come from their St. Croix heritage.

In conclusion, it is my opinion that the rams I purchased off the farm were the ones who became most dangerous. In contrast, those whom I have raised have shown no interest in being aggressive toward me. My theory is that the purchased rams may have been just fine (or maybe not) in their original home, but when removed to a different environment may have become more protective and aggressive in a strange new place and different handlers than they were used to. Or maybe they had become more mature and grew more aggressive with enhanced hormones. On my place I have been selecting for gentleness in rams as well as ewes and have not had that problem for several years.

If you find yourself with an aggressive ram, my first thought would be to recommend you remove him from your premises as soon as possible before you get hurt and end up with down time to recover and wasted money on medical bills. On the other hand, if you still want to keep a dangerous ram, please carry a weapon such as a long-handled garden rake so you can hit him under the chin (not on top of the head) with the teeth of the rake if he charges or shakes his head at you. That may distract him long enough for you to get out of harm’s way.

I have heard that some people have had good results by using the Premier ram shield which fits over the ram’s face and blocks their forward vision. The ram can still see out the sides and eat fine, has no problem servicing ewes, but can’t see you to run at you. This is only a temporary fix. As for me, I will no longer tolerate such a ram on my farm. Hope this helps.

Views from a shepherdess, by Joyce Weaver. lambjoyw@gmail.com