muleman
Member
the fellas worked very hard and got a sweat up but the rams had it easy!
Tupping 2018
- Thread starter trewern
- Start date
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
You must like wooly heads! I'm guessing there wouldn't be many putting those over Romneys.....
HappyShep76
Member
- Location
- Suffolk
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.
We’ll have to see what pops out......
kfpben
Member
- Location
- Mid Hampshire
Dangerous Dan
Member
Our tups went in 10 days ago. 83 out of 114 have been served. We had teasers running with the ewes for a cycle and gimmers two cycles before tups, yet no mule gimmers have been tupped yet......
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
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.
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.
Oh feck!
See, years ago you’d have turned them in, noticed a lot turning in one group in a couple of weeks, merged them and just had later lambs. Everybody would have been in the same boat so it wouldn’t have been that much of a disaster. People who bought ram lambs would have run them with some ewes, not expected too much and used them heavily as shearlings if they did the business. Technology is great but sometimes knowing stuff is a pain in the Harries...
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Bugger!
That is one of the main reasons I ditched cervical AI (even after having the kit & training to do it myself), in favour of the more expensive laparoscopic AI. At least you can then have a plan C of frozen semen to fall back on as a last resort.
At least you know there is an issue though. If you’d just turned out your ‘prime’ tup, you’d have had a panic on after 17 days when they all started returning (assuming you’d raddled of course). Then you’d have put your second choice ram in to sort out the problem, only to be faced with the same sight 17 days later. That would have had you back to late April/early May lambing, assuming the third choice was OK of course.....
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
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 April
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
Gives a whole new take on 'Take a run and jump'!
- Location
- West Wales
Thought the DNA only applicable to lambs born in 2019 onwards(technically 2020 crop), or if you used the tup for ai/embryo
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
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
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
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.
- Location
- West Wales
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’.
Wasn’t that long ago in the hills that rams with scrapie were the ones worth the money.... get compo on your whole flock if he’d served them all.
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’.
As I read it on the form it was tups for so and et work needing to be DNA test, if not I'll have to do mine.....oooooh the joys of extra costs
@Longlowdog haven't you registered the ram lambs you used?