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.
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.
Ewes should be in good body condition and on what we call a "rising plane of nutrition" prior to and during breeding. Too fat is no good, and too thin is no good either. If your ewes are working hard feeding twins, make sure to wean them in time to put some weight back on in time for breeding. If the feed is really good, as it is this year (2012), make them work harder for their feed to keep them from getting too fat. They should be in body condition score 2.5 to 3 when the rams go with them, and continue on reasonably good feed for at least a month after. After that you're feeding her and a lamb or 2 inside so you won't be able to cut back too much on the feed quality. Watch for a post later on managing the ewe through gestation and closer to lambing.
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