Remember this little guy…

from this post?

Look at him now!  Patchwork Abraham has matured into a handsome young ram. 

He has been living with a few wethers and it was time for him to join the big boys.   Abraham was getting a little full of himself and who could teach him a few life lessons better than the big boys.  It also makes life easier if I only have to worry about one group of intact boys.

Unfortunately, putting adult rams together takes a lot of finesse.  It can be very dangerous and you need to prepare for the pecking order fights that are inevitable.  You first need to evaluate who you are putting together – it helps if you know their individual temperaments and ages.  For example – I know that I can put young ram lambs in with our older boys and not worry about them hurting the youngsters.  However, putting a yearling in with adults required the use of a small pen.

It may look a little cramped, but this is exactly what you want.  They aren’t able to back up and ram each other.  They can still give each other small jabs, but I was there to make sure they didn’t hurt each other.  Once they have settled down a little I will usually leave them for another 30-60 minutes.

The close quarters also makes them all smell the same.  I’m not sure Abraham really enjoyed his warm, snuggly, living wool jacket 🙂

When it comes time to turn them out, we have lush grass or really good hay available.

The hope is that they will be so focused on the food that they will ignore each other.

Wrangler and Junior have been through this process several times and immediately started eating.  They are both good boys!

Reno is proving to be a lot like his dad, Junior, and went his seperate way.  I love his laidback nature.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing all of them living together peacefully. 

Here is an excellent article on raising respectful rams.  It is full of really good, useful information.