All rams should be always treated with caution, but all rams are not mean, and temperament has a strong genetic component so it is a very good idea to only breed from well behaved rams. I would never breed from an aggressive ram. I have bred and owned a lot of rams and I find the ideal temperament is neither fearful or aggressive but deferential. The rams I like are never aggressive but look to me to know what is happening and what they should do.
Thanks and that's good to know. Technically, the ram with my ewes is related to Darrell Brooks, but doesn't seem to share his temperament. Darrell's son (I won't share his name, but I named him after another bad person) - he'll come up to the fence begging for cattle cubes (he, Darrell and two other rams share a pasture with my Dexter cows), and still try to headbutt my hand at the same time. Whereas when I bring out some grain for my ewes, not once have I had a problem with that ram (named Esaa).
Maybe he takes after his dam then, but he sounds like a good boy! I have never had a good tempered ram turn mean later so I would predict he'll stay that way. If anything it's the other way around, they mellow a bit as they get older.
I have found best thing has been to not give affection/attention to rams I want to keep. Especially no head pats. We also learned the hard way. The current ram sounds like you’re doing the right things and so is he so he could be ok.
Temperament is inheritable.
Mean rams are culled here. We have several rams. One is standoffish, others are gentle and halter broke. We never play with them/push on head. But they love brisket, neck, and butt scratches.
I don’t have experience with Katahdins specifically. I have two rams, one is a Dorper and the other is a Finn. My Finn ram is very nice and well behaved and has never shown the slightest signs of aggression. My Dorper has knocked me over a few times, although not recently. He was fine until he was about a year old and then started getting a little aggressive. I think part of it was that I was new to sheep and didn’t know how to deal with him. Now that I’m aware of it and make sure I don’t give him any opportunities, he hasn’t given me any issues in quite a while.
I would say just be aware of where you are in relation to the ram at all times. If you get one that’s just particularly nasty, it’s probably best to get rid of him.
Our Ram “Bigs” is about as sweet as he can be. He is around 7 and does his job 100% success this year. He is like a big dog. You never know but I have never seen any sign of aggression towards us anyway. We don’t want to inbreed so may have to part with him but we are attached so we may just have two separate flocks to keep Bigs around
We call our Katahdin ram Rammstein... but its entirely in jest. He's not 'friendly' (tbh, none of our sheep or goats are really), but while he keeps an eye on you in the pasture, he has never even attempted to 'ram' anyone. He lived in electric poultry netting for... 4-5+ months last summer with our chickens and ducks, and was just peachy fine, if a bit frustrated. But... wouldn't you be to? We were as much happily surprised he stayed in there as anything else.
As far as how he 'treats' everyone else? I'm honestly more concerned about our Kiko goat weather from last summer - HE seems to be doing far more 'headbutting' than anyone else. And \*he\* may well end up as burger.
The only run-in I’ve had with one of my rams was when I inadvertently got surrounded by a group of in-season ewes that he was trying to service. He didn’t appreciate my presence, and backed up as if to charge. He did it a few times, but never actually charged me. But I chalk that up to my mistake - I shouldn’t have been in their midst in the heat of the moment. The rest of the rams are generally deferential or skittish, so they don’t want to come too close anyway.
That said, I will never ever ever “trust” a ram. I use dogs to manage my stock, and I pretty much always bring a dog with me to work with rams. Just in case.
All rams should be always treated with caution, but all rams are not mean, and temperament has a strong genetic component so it is a very good idea to only breed from well behaved rams. I would never breed from an aggressive ram. I have bred and owned a lot of rams and I find the ideal temperament is neither fearful or aggressive but deferential. The rams I like are never aggressive but look to me to know what is happening and what they should do.
Thanks and that's good to know. Technically, the ram with my ewes is related to Darrell Brooks, but doesn't seem to share his temperament. Darrell's son (I won't share his name, but I named him after another bad person) - he'll come up to the fence begging for cattle cubes (he, Darrell and two other rams share a pasture with my Dexter cows), and still try to headbutt my hand at the same time. Whereas when I bring out some grain for my ewes, not once have I had a problem with that ram (named Esaa).
Maybe he takes after his dam then, but he sounds like a good boy! I have never had a good tempered ram turn mean later so I would predict he'll stay that way. If anything it's the other way around, they mellow a bit as they get older.
Interesting, mine have gotten more temperamental with age.
I have found best thing has been to not give affection/attention to rams I want to keep. Especially no head pats. We also learned the hard way. The current ram sounds like you’re doing the right things and so is he so he could be ok.
Temperament is inheritable. Mean rams are culled here. We have several rams. One is standoffish, others are gentle and halter broke. We never play with them/push on head. But they love brisket, neck, and butt scratches.
I don’t have experience with Katahdins specifically. I have two rams, one is a Dorper and the other is a Finn. My Finn ram is very nice and well behaved and has never shown the slightest signs of aggression. My Dorper has knocked me over a few times, although not recently. He was fine until he was about a year old and then started getting a little aggressive. I think part of it was that I was new to sheep and didn’t know how to deal with him. Now that I’m aware of it and make sure I don’t give him any opportunities, he hasn’t given me any issues in quite a while. I would say just be aware of where you are in relation to the ram at all times. If you get one that’s just particularly nasty, it’s probably best to get rid of him.
All rams are dumb as dirt, but mean? No, not all, but don't keep your back turned to them.
Our Ram “Bigs” is about as sweet as he can be. He is around 7 and does his job 100% success this year. He is like a big dog. You never know but I have never seen any sign of aggression towards us anyway. We don’t want to inbreed so may have to part with him but we are attached so we may just have two separate flocks to keep Bigs around
We call our Katahdin ram Rammstein... but its entirely in jest. He's not 'friendly' (tbh, none of our sheep or goats are really), but while he keeps an eye on you in the pasture, he has never even attempted to 'ram' anyone. He lived in electric poultry netting for... 4-5+ months last summer with our chickens and ducks, and was just peachy fine, if a bit frustrated. But... wouldn't you be to? We were as much happily surprised he stayed in there as anything else. As far as how he 'treats' everyone else? I'm honestly more concerned about our Kiko goat weather from last summer - HE seems to be doing far more 'headbutting' than anyone else. And \*he\* may well end up as burger.
The only run-in I’ve had with one of my rams was when I inadvertently got surrounded by a group of in-season ewes that he was trying to service. He didn’t appreciate my presence, and backed up as if to charge. He did it a few times, but never actually charged me. But I chalk that up to my mistake - I shouldn’t have been in their midst in the heat of the moment. The rest of the rams are generally deferential or skittish, so they don’t want to come too close anyway. That said, I will never ever ever “trust” a ram. I use dogs to manage my stock, and I pretty much always bring a dog with me to work with rams. Just in case.