Sheep
Getting ready for breeding - EBLEX sheep scientist Dr Liz Genever suggests considering longer-term aims for your flock
 |
| Tone: Aim for body condition between 3 and 4 |
THE days are getting shorter and ewes and rams will soon start feeling frisky! But before you open the gates and let them get on with it, it's worth considering your longer term aims for the flock.
For instance, are you looking for your ewes to produce more lambs next spring? Do you want them to be able to care for them with the minimum of human intervention? Do you want to improve the quality of the lambs born in terms of their potential meat production and saleability?
If the answer is yes to any of these, then now is the ideal time to take steps to help achieve them.
First, make sure that the ewes are fit and able to conceive, remain pregnant and can rear their lambs. Any that are not should be culled.
This includes any with poor teeth, as they may not be able to eat enough to sustain a pregnancy, and any with mastitis or low, slack udders and damaged teats, as this will seriously affect their ability to feed and raise their lambs. Also any that had reproductive problems such as ringwomb or prolapse, or that suffer recurrent lameness.
Next consider whether the ram being used is improving the genetic potential of the flock. Unfortunately you cannot judge the ultimate performance of a ram by looks alone - important meat production traits such as growth rate and muscle depth are not visible to the naked eye.
Expertise within the industry now exists to measure a number of economically important traits. These predict the potential superiority, or inferiority of stock. These measurements are called estimated breeding values (EBVs).
Buying or hiring a ram with known EBVs for growth rate can increase the weight gain of lambs that are produced and reduce the time it takes to reach slaughter weight - which in turn reduces the costs of production. Using a ram with a high muscle depth EBV can enhance the carcase conformation of his lambs, which means they are more likely to meet market specifications which has a major influence on the price received.
More than 600 flocks are recorded each year by Signet Recording Services to identify the leading bloodlines among 40 different breeds of sheep. A breeders' directory detailing recorded flocks in your region is on the website at www.signetfbc.co.uk.
Finally, make sure all the animals you do hope to breed from this autumn are ready, fit and able.
The body condition of ewes at mating greatly influences ovulation and conception rate. Over-fat or thin ewes will be less fertile than those of body condition score three which is the optimum to be aimed for. Leaner ewes will respond to flushing - that is being given better quality grazing two to three weeks beforehand.
Putting a vasectomised ram (teaser) in with the ewes three weeks before breeding can also increase ovulation rates by the time the real tups go in. The more eggs that are released, the more likely the ewes are to have twins or more.
Rams also benefit from a thorough "MOT" ten weeks before they start work. The EBLEX Better Returns Programme is running a campaign urging sheep farmers to concentrate on the four "Ts" - tone, testicles, teeth and toes.
Tone
Aim for body condition score between 3 and 4 (0 is very thin, 5 is very fat)
Rams can lose up to 15 per cent of bodyweight during six weeks of tupping.
Testicles
The semen production cycle takes seven weeks
Supplement the diet with high quality protein ten weeks pre-tupping to build testicle tone and aid semen production
Large, firm testicles produce 80 per cent more semen a day than medium to soft testicles. They should be as firm as a flexed human bicep and of an even size. Check also for any lumps and bumps.
Teeth
Check the ram's incisors and molars to ensure he can eat well enough to gain weight pre- and post tupping.
Toes
Trim feet if necessary and check for arthritis in older animals. Footrot and other infections reduce fertility due to raised body temperature. Having sore feet will also reduce the number of ewes they successfully serve.
If there are any concerns in any of these areas - obtain veterinary advice well before the breeding season starts.
It is also important to get the ram to ewe ration right - young rams can cover between 40 and 60 ewes comfortably. Animals over four years old should be given less ewes to serve.
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
