coming on heat?

iverjohnston

Hi all, bought a bunch of ewe lambs 10 days ago. 11 months of age. Let the ram out with them a week ago and so far only one tipped. Would you guys be expecting more to have been covered by now, or do I give it another week before thinking about changing the ram?

sea12

iverjohnston wrote: »

Hi all, bought a bunch of ewe lambs 10 days ago. 11 months of age. Let the ram out with them a week ago and so far only one tipped. Would you guys be expecting more to have been covered by now, or do I give it another week before thinking about changing the ram?

What age are they. Ewe lambs will often go in lheat later on the season. Also what weight and breed are they. I always find u need them near the 50kgs yo get in lamb for suffolks.

Finally have u got a mature lamb in with them.

Bleating Lamb

sea12 wrote: »

What age are they. Ewe lambs will often go in lheat later on the season. Also what weight and breed are they. I always find u need them near the 50kgs yo get in lamb for suffolks.

Finally have u got a mature lamb in with them.

+1......ewe lambs come in heat about a month later than ewes.

iverjohnston

cheviot lambs, about the fifty kg mark. 3 year old ram who was running with 40 ewe up till a month ago

razor8

dont agree on the later in the season reason, I find ewe lambs generally dont come in heat until the third week the ram is in. Happens nearly every year, big bust of action after about 14 days. I think its the ram in around them that brings them into cycle.

Definitely using a teaser next year.

iverjohnston

Cheers folk. will leave him in for another while so.

tabby aspreme

Cheviots being a hill breed wouldn't be early lambers , most cheviots round here would lamb in April

solerina

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Cheviots being a hill breed wouldn't be early lambers , most cheviots round here would lamb in April

Agree, we have a majority of hill sheep and we usually aim to begin lambing around April 16th (rams going in with them in approx. 2 weeks)...so leave them a while longer !!

razor8

iverjohnston wrote: »

Hi all, bought a bunch of ewe lambs 10 days ago. 11 months of age. Let the ram out with them a week ago and so far only one tipped. Would you guys be expecting more to have been covered by now, or do I give it another week before thinking about changing the ram?

has the ram done much harm yet?

meant to say before - is there any chance they were tipped before you purchased?

iverjohnston

He has about eight tipped, plus six three year old ewes that were running with them.Will bring them in tomorrow and top up his raddle see what is going on. Hope none tipped before I got them !

AnFeirmeoir

My ewe lambs are all tipped now after 4 weeks. (just had 20)
I did notice that it wasn't a case of heaviest first. Some of my best lambs were last to be tipped.
They were tipping along at 1 every other day. Then as said there was a burst at around three weeks.

SilverKrest

I have a similar problem.
Exactly 3 weeks ago today I let ram out with approx 30 ewes. After 10-12 days 14 ewes were mated and i changed crayon colour. As of today no more ewes have any marking on them except 2 repeats from original 14. What is causing a 10+ day lapse in breeding. (Never happened before)

AnFeirmeoir

SilverKrest wrote: »

I have a similar problem.
Exactly 3 weeks ago today I let ram out with approx 30 ewes. After 10-12 days I 14 ewes were mated and i changed crayon colour. As of today no more ewes have any marking on them except 2 repeats from original 14. What is causing a 10+ day lapse in breeding. (Never happened before)

You sure you put the. New crayon on ? . It's a coincidence the mating stopped when you caught the ram . Could he be hurt . Harness hurting him ?

Could it be a mix of ewe ages? Are younger hoggets the ones left ? They can be a bit slower . But in general, with smaller numbers , the spread is more noticeable and it's easier to begin to worry . Mating will be 90% done after 4 weeks or so whether you have 30 or 300 ewes!

razor8

SilverKrest wrote: »

I have a similar problem.
Exactly 3 weeks ago today I let ram out with approx 30 ewes. After 10-12 days 14 ewes were mated and i changed crayon colour. As of today no more ewes have any marking on them except 2 repeats from original 14. What is causing a 10+ day lapse in breeding. (Never happened before)

very strange, i would be bringing on a sub if i was you

i would think if harness was hurting that he would still make some sort of effort

tabby aspreme

Had a good lot tipped here in the first 2 weeks ,near 90%, third week very little happened and now on fourth week there busy again but luckily very few repeats.
What lads are saying about ewe lambs taking a few weeks to come into heat sounds right I have some ewe lambs that are not going to the ram and there next to a field with ewes and rams in it , up too this week the ewe lambs paid no heed to what was happening next door but this morning there was 7 of them up at the wire trying to get in

SilverKrest

I have now reached the conclusion that the unmarked ewes were caught by a ram lamb earlier in the year. no activity in 16 days. theyre already pregnant but to god knows who?

AnFeirmeoir

SilverKrest wrote: »

I have now reached the conclusion that the unmarked ewes were caught by a ram lamb earlier in the year. no activity in 16 days. theyre already pregnant but to god knows who?

Wouldn't worry. One year my 300 euro Suffolk tipped only 1 of the ewe and died. A badly castrated wether did the business and saved the day . Even With one ball and related to the flock he produced fine lambs. Made me wonder what all the fuss was about with pedigree rams . Just had to sell every last lamb that year.