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About Soay Sheep Rams

Care & Maintenance of Soay Rams

Soay rams are probably the easiest keepers of all the sheep breeds.  They are small, generally shy, and have horns which are handy for catching them.  See Care & Maintenance for basic information on the care of Soay sheep; this page is for information specific to rams.  

APPEARANCE

The majority of horn growth is put on in the first year, and in subsequent years a visible line, much like the rings on a tree trunk, occurs on their horns and can be counted to show their age.  Horn growth slows and stops at about 5 years of age. 

A small percentage of Soay rams are scurred, which means that they have small or misshapen horns.  This is not a defect, and occurs naturally in about 7% of the rams on their islands of origin.

BEHAVIOR

Rams are happiest with other rams, and enjoy grazing together and sleeping side by side.  There will be some jostling from time to time as they determine who is #1 and who is #2 (and so on) in the pecking order.  There is seldom any serious "ramming" with a group of boys that are kept together all the time.  Introduction, and even

RE-introduction (after breeding season is over) requires some necessary precautions, in order to avoid injury to one or more of your rams.

Introduction and Re-introduction:  Some owners with larger groups of rams are able to manage this process by merely placing the rams in a fresh pasture and keeping an eye on them.  Smaller flocks, and those introducing one ram or ram lamb will need to take further measures to ensure the safety of the smaller boys.

BREEDING

Soay rams can breed as young as a few months of age, and are often successfully used for breeding in their first autumn of life when they are still lambs. 

WEANING

When Soay sheep are kept in a Wild Flock manner (aka "feral") it is not necessary to manage ram lambs; they stay with the flock, and will naturally gravitate to the older rams as they mature. 

Traditional Flock management requires some forethought before taking the ram lambs from their dams and adding them to the Ram Flock.  One ram lamb placed with one or more older rams may result in the death of the ram lamb.  It is best if there are several ram lambs; place them in a new pasture with lush grass, then add any adult rams afterward.  Multiple ram lambs takes some pressure off of them, as does the presence of fresh grass to eat, making it unlikely that one ram lamb will be singled out for a lesson in "who is boss."  

If there is only one ram lamb, or just a few rams to be introduced for the first time, it is advisable to put all of the rams and ram lambs into a VERY tight pen, so tight that they cannot even move.  If any of them can back up, it's not tight enough.  Food and water must be available, of course, and with some jostling, they can reach it.  After a few days in which they are covered with each other's scent, they can be released into a pasture.  Watch them carefully, and if any bashing occurs, repeat the process for another couple days.  This method is recommended by old Scottish shepherds, and has been used successfully by shepherds here in North America with many different breeds of sheep.  See our Managing Flock Sires page for more detailed information and links to articles describing reintroduction strategies.