Balls

[Bald Rick]

Was watching Googlebox on Ch4 the other evening when there was a snippet on from Marcus Wearing’s (chef) new TV show. He was seen talking to a sheep farmer who requested that Mr Wearing measure the circumference of each rams nut sack which has to be a minimum of 30cm.

Now, back in the day, I used to have sheep but other than checking that the boys had 2 plums and that flappy bit (name escapes me now) on the end of their pencil I never did owt else. Is measuring now a thing?

 

[Kiss]

bulls need a certain circumference to if you have the vet out for an mot

 

[primmiemoo]

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Have a length of string the right length to check rams' purses at sales.

 

[neilo]

bulls need a certain circumference to if you have the vet out for an mot

Vet will do the same for a ram MOT too. I would just handle them to check they where of sufficient size, both about the same size and both felt as they should, without using a tape to put a number on it.

 

[Gulli]

Didn't realise there was a minimum standard but there's a direct correlation between circumference and fertility.

Also a direct correlation between being a scrawny little rig that's escaped and being highly fertile

 

[AGN76]

Big knackers = fertile daughters

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I’ve had a one stone tup lamb rattle them off faster than any big bolloked tup

 

[Jerry]

I have a few ram buyers that come tape measure in had......normally female buyers funny enough!

So maybe size does matter??

 

[AftonShepherd]

Big knackers = fertile daughters

FFS I put an old NCC whose balls are almost dragging on the ground in the cull field the other day. Maybe I need to fetch him back for the best ewes?

 

[som farmer]

had a ped hrfd bull coming, chap was buying 1 for us, rung up to say, bit of a problem, only 1 ball, breeders were horrified they had missed it.

good ped bull, was offered him at store price, less than half, did l want to take a chance ?

we did, excellent bull, and as we fertility test our bulls yearly, his sperm count was the highest/best, of 4 bulls, kept him 3 yrs, till he got a bit to heavy, and made more than double what we paid for him !

but he failed the vet check, only 1 ball ! Didn't effect him though.

 

[M-J-G]

There's no reason why one stone should make any real difference to a bull unless they are doing a awful lot of work over long periods. I've kown of a few that were fine.

Biggers stones are generally better, but bigger isn't always better, when they are too big they hold too much heat, for the same reason balls that are too spherical aren't ideal either.

 

[Tim G]

Mate of mine had one removed at 21 due to cancer. Got three good kids now.

 

[neilo]

Mate of mine had one removed at 21 due to cancer. Got three good kids now.

Presumably he wasn't being asked to serve high numbers of on-heat females in a short period of time though?

Sub-fertile rams (or bulls) are only much of an issue if you're asking them to work hard. If you only put one ram out with 30 ewes then a one bollocked wonder will manage just fine.
I have one of those that went out with 47 ewes last year, on his own, and all bar one lambed in the first cycle. I would imagine he'd struggle to achieve the same on 100 though.

 

[cheviot53]

In the early 80's ABRO were measuring scrotal size in ram lambs and then producing daughters from the largest and smallest scrotal size ,don't remember exact difference but there was a difference in lambing %

 

[neilo]

In the early 80's ABRO were measuring scrotal size in ram lambs and then producing daughters from the largest and smallest scrotal size ,don't remember exact difference but there was a difference in lambing %

Don't the antipodeans call it 'big ball syndrome'?
Can't remember how much more fecund the daughters of big balled rams are supposed to have, or even if it's a big enough effect to be worth worrying about.

 

[M-J-G]

Presumably he wasn't being asked to serve high numbers of on-heat females in a short period of time though?

Sub-fertile rams (or bulls) are only much of an issue if you're asking them to work hard. If you only put one ram out with 30 ewes then a one bollocked wonder will manage just fine.
I have one of those that went out with 47 ewes last year, on his own, and all bar one lambed in the first cycle. I would imagine he'd struggle to achieve the same on 100 though.

Throw a wee shitty rigg in with a hundred and you'll find out.

 

[neilo]

Throw a wee shitty rigg in with a hundred and you'll find out.

A shedder?

Does a wee shitty rig have a decent sized ball(s?) though?

 

[Northeastfarmer]

A shedder?

Does a wee shitty rig have a decent sized ball(s?) though?

In spirit yes….In reality no…

 

[som farmer]

had a shitty rough fr rig, get in with our hfrs one year, soon out, but he caught a few. Kept 3 hfr calves, fantastic milkers.

 

[BAF]

had a shitty rough fr rig, get in with our hfrs one year, soon out, but he caught a few. Kept 3 hfr calves, fantastic milkers.

Genetic lottery. If breeding was as easy as A+B=C then it'd be easy