Sheep are seasonal breeders; the shortening days are the trigger for the breeding season in sheep. Both rams and ewes are affected by this with rams showing little or no interest in the ewes, and the ewes simply not cycling at all. The late spring and summer are the "deep anoestrus" period, the time of year when most sheep will not breed. There are exceptions however, so don't rely on it 100% to keep your ewes from being bred!

So, summer is moving along and we're starting to think about mating the ewes. When to put the ram out? That depends on a few things, including when you want lambs to be born, when you want the lambs ready for the freezer or the market, and of course on the fertility of both ewes and rams. The gestation period of a ewe is 147 days, plus or minus 5 days, so calculate first lambs 142 days from when the ram went with the ewes, and 152 days as the last possible lamb born. We use the calendar on the computer to send us a reminder 142 days after making an entry, or you can use a spreadsheet to put in today's date and calculate when to expect the lambs. There are also some calculators available on the web that do this, but it's quite simple really. Mostly it's about being reminded close to the time!

Most ewes will breed the first time the ram breeds them (he generally isn't interested if they are not on heat), but leave him with them for 2 cycles to be sure. A cycle is 17 days, so 35 days should pretty well cover 2 cycles for all the ewes. We talked about how to determine if they are returning to service in our blog post on readying the ram for breeding. If they are returning you need to determine if it's the ewe or the ram. Usually if it's more than 1 or 2 it's the ram. It's unusual for many ewes to return unless they are very thin or have been affected by something quite serious.

The ram can be easily forgotten if he's out in a back paddock with the old horse, or mowing the grass behind the sheds. It's a good idea to start taking a look at the old boy well before you plan to put him out with the ladies.

What are we looking for? Well, firstly make sure he's healthy and not carrying any injuries, eating well and in good body condition. Some rams will spend a lot of time courting and not eating once out with the ewes so having him in good body condition prior to mating will see him through getting the whole job done. I like to see them quite smooth on the backline with no backbone showing if he's shorn, or that you can't feel it if he's not. Don't worry, in 6 weeks time he won't look the same! Make sure his feet are good and he's walking well. It's hard to do the job if you can't get up on those two back legs. He should also be breathing easily, no snotty nose or rasping.

Next, make sure his breeding parts are in good order. Check the sheath to make sure it's not infected or inflamed. Palpate the testicles to ensure no swelling or tenderness. It's normal for the testicles to enlarge and hang lower during the breeding season, particularly on hotter days, but any swelling can be a sign of injury. If there has been injury to the testicles it can take several weeks for sperm to be viable again.

Breeding time has arrived and you're about to put the ram out with the ewes. Have you thought about using a ram harness? At Streamland Suffolks we use ram harnesses on all our rams so that we can see which ewes have been serviced and when. Changing the ram and the colour on the harness is also a good idea if you want to know how many have returned. You should have a very low return rate if your ram is doing the job and your ewes are healthy. A high return rate would suggest there is a problem with the first service ram. If you only have one ram, change the harness colour anyway so you can see if there are any returns. If there are many or all returning, it's probably not too late to get another ram. Better than missing an entire year! If you only have a small number of ewes you can record their numbers and when they were mated and work out when to expect the lambs.

147 days later, plus or minus 5, brings the most exciting time of the year on the farm. The anticipation of who will produce what lambs! Oh and did I mention the ram is half the flock?