Will sheep fight?

Q. I have 2 acres in northern California in a temperate area. I want to have a flock of about 8-10 jacob sheep, I plan to sell the majority for meat and home consumption. I also do some agri-tourism. People come to see crops, and they’d like to see the sheep (even if the sheep don’t want to be seen).

I will be new to raising sheep, and am busy with two young kids and an off-farm job. So I thought maybe I’d just buy young males or castrated rams and see if I think it’s too much of a hassle. If I start with 3 males and plan to sell/butcher 2 within a year or so, am I going to have bunch of fighting on my hands? If I have one or two females and two males will that lead to fighting?

A. It's pretty typical to keep a group of males together during non-breeding season, and it usually works out ok. Wethers (castrated males) will sometimes fight, as of course do intact males; but unless there's something serious to fight about (read: females or starvation), it should work out fine.

There's always the potential of acquiring that one SOB ram that just won't adapt, in which case he's a candidate for early retirement to the freezer. But that's not usually the case.

A female in heat kept in with (or very near) 2 adult rams will probably drive everyone crazy until she's bred.