It seems that many of the so called harems out there are actually matriarchies with a kept stud.
When I kept sheep, I made sure that I made a pet of my dominant ewe, because where she went, the flock followed. Both times I had wolf attacks, I lost the ram, who stood and fought while the ewes and lambs got the hell outta there. We also noted the formation of matrilineal mini-flocks within the larger flock - mother, daughters, granddaughters sticking together while the grandsons and sons (those who didn't take the tour of Northern Quality Meats) split off into a bachelor flock that stayed apart from the ewe flock - a state encouraged by the lead ram.
One year my bachelor flock consisted of two - Laughing Boy, our "pony with wool" and Fafnir, an impressively horned white Icelandic ram. Eystein, the black ram, kept them away from the ladies and lambs. The two of them busted through the fence and took up residence in a beaver meadow on our property. There was a stream running through the meadow, and a young bear lived on the other side of the stream. He never bothered the boys - too fond of his hide, I daresay.
