Pros and cons of horns (on sheep)

[Clive Tee]

I've got Lleyns and Char/Lleyns. Mate up the road has a small flock of Wiltshire Horns and I really like the look of them. Bit like Lleyns with horns, and the horns are great for grabbing hold of.

So what's the downside, why are breeds mainly without horns?

I expect the answer is obvious and I'm going to look daft asking, but honestly haven't a clue. Never had anything with horns or thought about it, just accepted no horns is best!

Cheers

 

[llamedos]

Well some would say they are a pest with fencing, personally mine have never been hung up in mine, and have had my fair share of non horned with legs fast! I have horned and non horned running together, neither gets the better of the other. I have had savage bruised legs form both, but have to admit to being badly hurt on the shin by a WH tup, it hurt that bad,I though it had fractured it, it hadnt!
I have no preference to either running out, in the looks stakes I prefere to look at a horned breed, just something smart about a nice well set horned head.

 

[Gulli]

Great for catching hold of until one snaps off...

 

[jemski]

They seem to know how and when to use them on your legs, especially when in the race!

 

[Devil's advocate]

Guess electric fencing could be a problem.

 

[JP1]

Guess electric fencing could be a problem.

Never. Woolly breed lambs are the ones I've always had trouble around electric fences

 

[JP1]

Great for catching hold of until one snaps off...

True. Folks are always tempted to handle them by the horns, don't use your full strength only use horns to help guide in handling

 

[JP1]

I've got Lleyns and Char/Lleyns. Mate up the road has a small flock of Wiltshire Horns and I really like the look of them. Bit like Lleyns with horns, and the horns are great for grabbing hold of.

So what's the downside, why are breeds mainly without horns?

I expect the answer is obvious and I'm going to look daft asking, but honestly haven't a clue. Never had anything with horns or thought about it, just accepted no horns is best!

Cheers

I really like them. Personally I find them better mothers than the Lleyns I kept before although I remember @Tim W doesn't rate them as mothers

 

[Paddington]

WH lambs can be a pest getting their horns stuck in stock fencing, usually it's the same ram lambs in the same bit of fence, perhaps I should give them more grass. We often say that ram lambs have a kilo advantage in live weight at the auction due to their horns. Our WH tup had a beautiful set of horns, sadly they started to grow in and had to be cut off, very useful for catching him especially in amongst our neighbours ewes! Now if I want to catch him I just need to turn my back on him when I'm in his his field, the phrase flying by the seat of your pants comes to mind.

 

[DB67]

Blackies have horns.

Therefore horns win.

 

[CharcoalWally]

You try handling Blackies without horns - you need all the help you can get! Straight off the hill they're mad as hatters!

 

[Dave6170]

You try handling Blackies without horns - you need all the help you can get! Straight off the hill they're mad as hatters!

Like trying to work with our hill cheviots then!

 

[CharcoalWally]

Oh Dave , you've got my sympathies. I'd suggest a lasso , but I found the buggers never kept their heads up for long enough!

 

[Dave6170]

They re wild animals. Not like normal sheep, they always make a break for it.
Bought a tup this year with horns and my god he knows hes got them!

 

[Razor8]

Should see a shearers legs after a batch of horned ewes!

 

[sam1]

I cant stand Wiltshire horns they are sods. Lambs always stuck in high tensile fencing, strong as a bull rub all the wool off on the fences or anything they can, rams are idiots want to hurt you. Glad I don't have any I looked after them for a brief period for someone else never again

 

[Clive Tee]

Great for catching hold of until one snaps off...

Blimey, must tell my mate, didn't know that! You'd think they'd be stuck on well as their main purpose is as a battering ram!

I really like them. Personally I find them better mothers than the Lleyns I kept before although I remember @Tim W doesn't rate them as mothers

Guess that's as much in the breeding as the breed maybe? We've had a few bad mothering Lleyns and they didn't get a 2nd chance. No point doing anything else because that's the whole point of them! But you always get a few.

Re getting stuck in fences. We get a few even without horns. I had to cull one last year for getting her head stuck every single day. You go round them up and then you'd see her right at the far end of the field, head stuck!!!!

 

[JohnGalway]

Got blackface here.

Cons

• Can be a problem with individual sheep sticking their heads through wire, some will even weave the horn into the mesh, the problem is uncommon but I have seen it several times. Strangely a ewe with just one horn was the worst offender I ever had for getting stuck in fences. (I've seen lambs get stuck in empty paint tins and dry stone walls. It's fun trying to get a handled bucket off a rams horns in an open field too).
• Trailers with 0 shaped air holes are an issue, horn goes out, sheep can't/won't get it back in the same way. Oddly I have never seen it happen with O shaped air holes.
• Horns can break, usually it's sh!t/poor ewes or very old ewes or ewe lambs, but have had wether lambs horns just "POP!" off, they bleed, a lot.
• They can get stuck in the ground, have seen it happen, trapping the ewe on it's side. This is very uncommon.
• They know they have them, they know how to use them.

Pros

• They look good.
• Can be handy when shearing for holding the ewe in certain positions.
• Useful for holding or guiding a sheep.
• Useful when vaccinating for me as I have the ewes head between my knees while I inject under the flesh on the shoulder.

Horn wire, and a gate for sheep like a cattle crush gate to hold a ram/lambs head are useful.

 

[Clive Tee]

Not many pros there John!

 

[Tim W]

Horns on ewes? If you have to handle them or put them through a race they can be a pain
Never had much trouble with them getting stuck in fencing
read an Aussi report that suggested horns were good for carcase quality as people tended to handle them by the horns rather than by the fleece which can lead to bruising?

Wilts Horns ----don't have much against their horns but as sheep they certainly lack maternal qualities. I have run up to 200 for 20 ish years alongside lleyns and the difference in an outdoor unassisted (therefore a good measure of the sheeps maternal ability) situation and the difference between the 2 breeds is obvious
Sure there are good wilts and poor lleyns but on an average the lleyn would rear 20% more lambs and have more milk
Lleyns will not leave a new born lamb whilst a wilts is likely to abandon the lamb if you get too close

Rams horns? Big things that can need cutting off---a pain too

On the plus side folks seem to think that horns look great so it makes the tings easier to sell