Post by corrie on May 14, 2017 17:39:41 GMT -5
Hi All
Apologies in advance for a long tale.
We have two Dorper rams - Rumble and Matador.
Rumble was bought in. From the moment he arrived as an 8 month old, he showed a lot of interest in the ladies. Six months after getting him, we bought an extra 3 ewes and he had them bred within a week, resulting in three sets of twins. However, he has had times of showing aggression towards us - nothing too bad, but enough that I don't allow visitors into his paddock.
Matador was born here, the son of one of our best ewes. As Matador and Rumble are unrelated, I decided to keep both so they could mate with each other's daughters. Matador is now 18 months old, a big, solidly built, good-looking ram. He is also incredibly gentle, respectful, and has always enjoyed interaction with humans.
When Matador was growing, he was in the paddock with Rumble, and Rumble was always the dominant ram, including after Matador had grown bigger than Rumble.
Last Spring, with three quarters of the paddocks set aside for hay, the rams were in adjoining paddocks. Rumble had 3 ewes and Matty had one. I realise the numbers are low, but we are building our flock. Both rams seemed most interested in Matty's ewe. Rumble would position himself on a small hill and watch Matador very closely. A couple of times, I saw Matador start to mount and then stop. This was his first experience with ewes.
The rams butted through the fence, particularly after it became clear that Matty's ewe had a preference for Rumble. She stayed as close to the fence as possible. Whenever Matty tried to mount her, Rumble would ram the fence. The ewe tried to back into the fence, but I don't think it was possible for Rumble to mount her through the fence. I did see Matty successfully mount her and appear to get the job done.
A few weeks later, I weaned a set of twins and put their mother in with Matty. He had times of interest (chasing etc) and although I didn't see any definite action, I assumed she would get bred.
Six weeks ago, the first ewe delivered healthy twin ram lambs, which I assume are Matty's first progeny. (Unless Rumble managed to negotiate a fence, a hot wire, and Matty.) However, the second ewe showed no signs of pregnancy. Two weeks ago, I decided to 'preg test' her by putting her in with Rumble. He mated her last week.
This second ewe was with Matty for almost five months and yet apparently, never became pregnant.
So, to questions ...
Is there a dominance issue going on? Does Matty have lower libido because Rumble is always in the vicinity? (Not always in adjoining paddocks, but close enough to be aware of each other.)
Does a ram need a bit of a mean streak in order to be a good worker?
At 18 months old, is Matador still young enough to grow into a productive ram?
A friend has three ewes and has asked for a loan of our ram. For safety reasons, I was going to send Matador, but now I'm reconsidering. Would it be best to send Rumble and give Matador a chance to be the dominant ram for a few months? Or would going to another farm help Matador? I would obviously explain to my friend that Matty comes with no guarantees.
Three of Rumble's daughters are almost ready to be bred. I know that putting young ewes with a young ram isn't the best management plan, but I had hoped he would 'learn' from the older ewes last Spring.
If Matador doesn't do the job he is here to do, he will go into the freezer, but I want to give him every chance first. Am I just wasting time and delaying the inevitable?
Thanks in advance for any advice or sharing of your experiences.
Corrie.
Apologies in advance for a long tale.
We have two Dorper rams - Rumble and Matador.
Rumble was bought in. From the moment he arrived as an 8 month old, he showed a lot of interest in the ladies. Six months after getting him, we bought an extra 3 ewes and he had them bred within a week, resulting in three sets of twins. However, he has had times of showing aggression towards us - nothing too bad, but enough that I don't allow visitors into his paddock.
Matador was born here, the son of one of our best ewes. As Matador and Rumble are unrelated, I decided to keep both so they could mate with each other's daughters. Matador is now 18 months old, a big, solidly built, good-looking ram. He is also incredibly gentle, respectful, and has always enjoyed interaction with humans.
When Matador was growing, he was in the paddock with Rumble, and Rumble was always the dominant ram, including after Matador had grown bigger than Rumble.
Last Spring, with three quarters of the paddocks set aside for hay, the rams were in adjoining paddocks. Rumble had 3 ewes and Matty had one. I realise the numbers are low, but we are building our flock. Both rams seemed most interested in Matty's ewe. Rumble would position himself on a small hill and watch Matador very closely. A couple of times, I saw Matador start to mount and then stop. This was his first experience with ewes.
The rams butted through the fence, particularly after it became clear that Matty's ewe had a preference for Rumble. She stayed as close to the fence as possible. Whenever Matty tried to mount her, Rumble would ram the fence. The ewe tried to back into the fence, but I don't think it was possible for Rumble to mount her through the fence. I did see Matty successfully mount her and appear to get the job done.
A few weeks later, I weaned a set of twins and put their mother in with Matty. He had times of interest (chasing etc) and although I didn't see any definite action, I assumed she would get bred.
Six weeks ago, the first ewe delivered healthy twin ram lambs, which I assume are Matty's first progeny. (Unless Rumble managed to negotiate a fence, a hot wire, and Matty.) However, the second ewe showed no signs of pregnancy. Two weeks ago, I decided to 'preg test' her by putting her in with Rumble. He mated her last week.
This second ewe was with Matty for almost five months and yet apparently, never became pregnant.
So, to questions ...
Is there a dominance issue going on? Does Matty have lower libido because Rumble is always in the vicinity? (Not always in adjoining paddocks, but close enough to be aware of each other.)
Does a ram need a bit of a mean streak in order to be a good worker?
At 18 months old, is Matador still young enough to grow into a productive ram?
A friend has three ewes and has asked for a loan of our ram. For safety reasons, I was going to send Matador, but now I'm reconsidering. Would it be best to send Rumble and give Matador a chance to be the dominant ram for a few months? Or would going to another farm help Matador? I would obviously explain to my friend that Matty comes with no guarantees.
Three of Rumble's daughters are almost ready to be bred. I know that putting young ewes with a young ram isn't the best management plan, but I had hoped he would 'learn' from the older ewes last Spring.
If Matador doesn't do the job he is here to do, he will go into the freezer, but I want to give him every chance first. Am I just wasting time and delaying the inevitable?
Thanks in advance for any advice or sharing of your experiences.
Corrie.