Dozer assumed such a strange position in the chair that I had to move in for a closer shot:
This morning I carried hay to the Ram-ada Inn and looked over the partial wall as I always do before filling the feeders. Cadbury was on his knees with his head in the corner, blood trickling from the base of his near scur, his eye half-closed. I dropped the hay and raced back to the barn to grab halters, not knowing if it was too late to intervene but knowing I had to try.
By the time I returned, Cadbury was up and looked alert. I entered the pen with my trusty rod, got Cadbury cornered, haltered and led out of the Inn. In the process I noticed a smudge of blood on Bunker's white poll. No surprise there; the rivalry between Bunker and Cadbury resulted in the destruction of the heavy panel that used to separate them. I tried to sell Cadbury because he's smaller than Blake and Bunker and I didn't think I'd ever be able to run them together; I have been pleasantly surprised that things seemed to be going well so far. All good things must come to an end, I guess.
I'm a worried shepherd at . . .
6 comments:
It must be in the air, I had fighting roosters today, had to separate them, and now hate what it may mean.
They saw the girls, they smelled the girls, and they now have testosterone poisoning. The only thing to do is to make their space so small that they can barely move around to get feed and water. No room to move means no room to back up and bash. I'm sure I told you about putting the rams back together at my house after breeding - in the back of my truck with the stock racks? There were 7 full-sized (200+ lb.) rams in there. They stayed there for 5 days. When I turned them out, they were so relieved that there was no fighting.
Your problem, however, is not quite the same, as they haven't gotten girls...
I keep thinking about copying that article for you about putting rams together after breeding season .... throw a bunch of old tires on the floor in a small pen, smear them with cheap after shave so they all smell alike. If you don't have any old tires maybe a tire shop will have some used ones cheap. Good luck.
Rams... ugh... The girls are bad enough this time of year with their wild playing and battles. I don't envy you since you are essentially going into breeding season instead of coming out the other side. I've used the ram shield in the past on the more dominant ram. They can still do some fighting (side to side) but it eliminates some of the heavy head bashing. Just have to be careful in a multiple ram situation that you don't leave the ram with the shield too vulnerable to the others. Good luck!
Tammy
If they're intact, they're going to fight, sometimes to the death. Even if you cut them, they'll still fight but, maybe, not to the death. It's the way of Nature...God's way and there's not much we can do about it except keep males separated.
I love Dozer! So cute.
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