muleman
Member
the fellas worked very hard and got a sweat up but the rams had it easy!Did the rams work hard, or the handlers?
the fellas worked very hard and got a sweat up but the rams had it easy!Did the rams work hard, or the handlers?
A few of the boys. Not the greatest pictures but they wanted their breakfast View attachment 729184 View attachment 729186 View attachment 729188
We’re putting Easycare over the Romney shearlings/ewe lambs (400) as we like them for first timers. The mules get the the wooly heads.You must like wooly heads! I'm guessing there wouldn't be many putting those over Romneys.....
Utter disaster for me. Sponged and PMSG'd my wee flock of Beltex, pulled my tups in and the guy doing my cervical AI put a sample of my prime tup under the microscope and it was barely mobile. I thought his wee touch of pneumonia was caught in good time. Took a sample off my second choice, back up contingency plan tup and it was flat cold dead (no know health issues). Argggh, dash out and grab the most promising tup lambs and the wee devils who have hardly been handled would not jump in the shed. With the clock ticking on the window of heat I ended up splitting the girls in to 3 groups and chucking 3 ram lambs in with each group just to have some fat lambs for next season. They haven't been DNA'd, I can't assign parentage any way so there will be no pedigree shearlings or gimmers for me to sell 2020.
Only upside is I'll know a lot more about the dangers or lack of concern over line/inbreeding next year as the tup lambs were randomly thrown in so there are bound to be some close relationships going on there.
With two years of 90% + results I was due a knock, I just never thought it would be my tups to bring me back down to earth.
Utter disaster for me. Sponged and PMSG'd my wee flock of Beltex, pulled my tups in and the guy doing my cervical AI put a sample of my prime tup under the microscope and it was barely mobile. I thought his wee touch of pneumonia was caught in good time. Took a sample off my second choice, back up contingency plan tup and it was flat cold dead (no know health issues). Argggh, dash out and grab the most promising tup lambs and the wee devils who have hardly been handled would not jump in the shed. With the clock ticking on the window of heat I ended up splitting the girls in to 3 groups and chucking 3 ram lambs in with each group just to have some fat lambs for next season. They haven't been DNA'd, I can't assign parentage any way so there will be no pedigree shearlings or gimmers for me to sell 2020.
Only upside is I'll know a lot more about the dangers or lack of concern over line/inbreeding next year as the tup lambs were randomly thrown in so there are bound to be some close relationships going on there.
With two years of 90% + results I was due a knock, I just never thought it would be my tups to bring me back down to earth.
Absolute nightmare for you but as @neilo says, better to know rather than have two cycles pass you by. That happened to me in my first year keeping sheep. Sponged a group of ewes but the tup turned out to be almost a jaffa (left one lamb). As they were synchronised, it took two cycles to realise there was a problem. Result: Hampshire x lambs late May rather than Easycare lambs early AprilUtter disaster for me. Sponged and PMSG'd my wee flock of Beltex, pulled my tups in and the guy doing my cervical AI put a sample of my prime tup under the microscope and it was barely mobile. I thought his wee touch of pneumonia was caught in good time. Took a sample off my second choice, back up contingency plan tup and it was flat cold dead (no know health issues). Argggh, dash out and grab the most promising tup lambs and the wee devils who have hardly been handled would not jump in the shed. With the clock ticking on the window of heat I ended up splitting the girls in to 3 groups and chucking 3 ram lambs in with each group just to have some fat lambs for next season. They haven't been DNA'd, I can't assign parentage any way so there will be no pedigree shearlings or gimmers for me to sell 2020.
Only upside is I'll know a lot more about the dangers or lack of concern over line/inbreeding next year as the tup lambs were randomly thrown in so there are bound to be some close relationships going on there.
With two years of 90% + results I was due a knock, I just never thought it would be my tups to bring me back down to earth.
Gives a whole new take on 'Take a run and jump'!
Utter disaster for me. Sponged and PMSG'd my wee flock of Beltex, pulled my tups in and the guy doing my cervical AI put a sample of my prime tup under the microscope and it was barely mobile. I thought his wee touch of pneumonia was caught in good time. Took a sample off my second choice, back up contingency plan tup and it was flat cold dead (no know health issues). Argggh, dash out and grab the most promising tup lambs and the wee devils who have hardly been handled would not jump in the shed. With the clock ticking on the window of heat I ended up splitting the girls in to 3 groups and chucking 3 ram lambs in with each group just to have some fat lambs for next season. They haven't been DNA'd, I can't assign parentage any way so there will be no pedigree shearlings or gimmers for me to sell 2020.
Only upside is I'll know a lot more about the dangers or lack of concern over line/inbreeding next year as the tup lambs were randomly thrown in so there are bound to be some close relationships going on there.
With two years of 90% + results I was due a knock, I just never thought it would be my tups to bring me back down to earth.
Thought the DNA only applicable to lambs born in 2019 onwards(technically 2020 crop), or if you used the tup for ai/embryo
I thought it was for all ‘live sires’ used this Year?
Thing is though, it does happen and it happend to me this year, first crop of lambs out of my tup, lambs are very good and correct, but the tup died back in march how could I DNA test him now?
If you lost the tup between now and end of may you could be in big trouble, no tup to take DNA sample
Beltexes die? Surely not.
I assume that’s why the wording was for ‘live sires’. Presumably, in the future, you’re supposed to DNA test when you use him?
In Charollais we have to do a scrapie genotype test before we can upgrade rams to full pedigree, but there seems to be a nonsensical idea amongst many breeders that scrapie resistant rams are in some way ‘better quality’. I kid you not.
Beltexes die? Surely not.
I assume that’s why the wording was for ‘live sires’. Presumably, in the future, you’re supposed to DNA test when you use him?
In Charollais we have to do a scrapie genotype test before we can upgrade rams to full pedigree, but there seems to be a nonsensical idea amongst many breeders that scrapie resistant rams are in some way ‘better quality’. I kid you not.