How to find the right ram
Study the breeder
Breeders should only use their best stock for breeding, and a reputable one will cull any animals that don't make the grade.
A less diligent one will breed from sheep with faults and offer their progeny for sale.
“Just because a ram has a pedigree with papers doesn't mean he is going to perform well,” says James. “A ram should come with genetic records, ideally part of Beef and Lamb's genetic evaluation programme, SIL (Sheep Improvement Limited).
“Eighty percent of rams sold in New Zealand are on SIL, which is world-leading and has fantastic integrity.”
SIL grade and rank the rams. That produces the statistics Hayley puts into their catalogue.
5 questions you need to ask
1. What traits is the breeder recording? These can include:
- fertility;
- ewe feed efficiency;
- lamb survival rate;
- lamb growth;
- disease resistance;
- wool quality;
- meat yield;
- carcass weight.
2. What type of land are they farming, and is it tougher land than yours?
3. Do they have to trim their hooves?
4. Have they fed sheep nuts and grains to make them look good?
5. How often are they drenching?
If a breeder is supplementary feeding or drenching every two or three months, you're probably going to have to continue this to maintain the animal's weight and condition.
Check the ram
A healthy ram should have a body condition score of around 3 to 4 (see page 29). That's not skinny but not roly-poly either.
You need to get hands-on to check them, or have someone who can do it for you.
“Examine the ram's testicles – there should be no lumps or lesions. His teeth should be in good shape, and feet good with no signs of lameness or excessive toe length.”
Check the ram is from a brucellosis accredited flock (see page 28) or has a vet certificate.
Ideally, you also want records showing an animal's resistance to facial eczema and parasites (see page 28).
Take biosecurity measures
You don't want to mate a ram to his daughters or a son with his sisters or mother.
Swapping or borrowing a ram can prevent interbreeding, but be very careful about biosecurity if you do this. Brucellosis is prevalent throughout commercial flocks in NZ, probably more so in smaller flocks, says James.
“If you are bringing an unchecked ram in,
I'd suggest keeping him in quarantine until you can get the vet to test him.”
He advocates that all stock coming onto a property should be drenched and kept off pasture for 24 hours to enable the drench to take effect. Internal parasites are developing a resistance to various drench ‘families' (read more at right, and on page 46), so James recommends using a triple combination drench or one of a new drench family such as Zolvix or Startect.
Romance & the ram
A ram is usually allowed to mate with the ewes (known as tupping) in March or April. James recommends adjusting the timing to suit your climate. Ideally, you want lambing time (152 days after mating) to coincide with the spring grass flush. In Northland, that's in late September.
“A ewe doesn't eat excessive feed over winter, but in the two weeks prior to lambing and afterwards when she's feeding the lamb, she should have all she can eat. She doesn't want long grass, but ad-lib of 2-3cm-long, good-quality grass.”
James says one ram can service over 50 ewes, but it's common for farmers to have more than one ram in with a group of ewes, just in case one isn't performing.
Ewes cycle every 16 days. While most will get pregnant within the first 2-3 weeks, rams should be left in with the ewes for six weeks.
The previous year's ewe lambs can be mated with no adverse effects on health or lifetime performance as long as they are a good size and in good condition.
Most ewes will breed until they're five or six years of age, although James has a few 10-year-old ewes in his flock.