The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: ThomasR on November 09, 2014, 05:11:29 pm
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Hi the tups eventually came in a few days ago and have been very keen :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: but the girls are not. Is this normal. Is there anything I can do? ??? ??? ???
please help me I feel like the sheep are trying to be difficult. :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant:
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Oooooo ....... I think they may need a little time to get to know each other :eyelashes: ;D
Girls may not be in season yet. May take a week or two or three.
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I have had a teaser running with them for a few weeks to try and avoid that problem. I just would have thought that atleast one would have been in heat within 6days.
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Had they been showing interest in the teaser? If not, they're just not ready yet.
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Maybe they're all cycling together then, and he'll get them all at once next Thursday afternoon :) .
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Relax , have a drink and let love blossom :eyelashes: :)
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Thanks guys
yes and no to the teaser, the teaser jumped on them all and some of them followed him.
Your right shep53 I'm being a bit paranoid. It's just i'm worried that they wont get mated and I might end up with no lambs.
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Nature will take its course, give the girls a chance to get to know him!
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They'll schmoozle up to him when they're ready.
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Thanks looks like I was in a panic for nothing.
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When I put my tup in he did nothing for a couple of weeks then got them all within a few days. Don't fret quite yet ??
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My neighbour's Texel ram has been in with my Jacob girls since early October, he served them all this week, it just needed a bit of cold weather to get them going.
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Signs at last, the girls are starting to aprove of their byfriend they will stand still for a second or two the tup will sniff them brepere to jump on them and then all of a sudden they take flight and leave the tup. Talk about a teaser.
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What breed do you have? And how long was the teaser out for?
If the ewes are already cycling then the teaser has no effect. If they are near to the natural breeding season then thats when they are stimulated to come in to season sharper & more syncronised. However You should replace the teaser with "real" tups at 14days maximum, and most of the ewes will be served in the next 10days. If the teaser is left in longer you will miss the first proper oestrus & have to wait another 17d or so until the girls are back in again.
If you saw the teaser jumping ewes he was in too long!
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Hi I have zwartbles and hebs they are two sepperate tups. I just mentioned the teaser to say that they are in season.
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When my borrowed tup went in last year none of my girls were at all impressed and avoided him at all costs for the entire time that he was in with them (6 weeks). We weren't sure if he'd actually managed to do the deed, as there didn't seem to be any raddle marks but judging by when the ewes lambed he must have got them all in his first few hours in there (before we put the raddle on him)!! :innocent:
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Good sign I hope for the Zwartbles. The Zed tup has stopped chasing them around as if he was desperate. Does this mean that he has served them all or has just been rejected. I did not put a harness on him because there are only 4 girls. The heb tup still running after the 7 mature heb ewes like a mad man. I kind of expanded on the heb side and now have 8 :innocent:, 7 ewes and 1 ewe lamb ( not in with the tup) they have an amazing character.
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We borrowed a tup and after the first week he started to get more and more aggressive towards me when I went into the field to feed them all. I'm assuming that this is because he'd done his job and so was protecting his ladies - despite the fact that all four of the ladies just wanted to have their usual scratch and fuss from me. Wilf was having none of it though. It was so obvious that they just wanted me to take him away again!
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Each ewe has a 17 day cycle. This means that she will come a-tupping for one day, and then, if she is not tupped or does not hold, she will come a-tupping again 17 days later.
Therefore in a field of 4 ewes for 17 days, the tup will have nothing to do for at least 13 of those days, even if all the girls are cycling.
You can only know he has done his job with them all when there are no ewes with him for each of 17 days straight.
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The ram's errr lovemaking? is so quick that before you can cross yourself and mutter a Hail Mary he's done at least six ewes!!!
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I have found that cowping an antsy tup and keeping him on the ground for a few minutes will give him some respect for you and make him think twice before getting aggressive with you. This may need repeating at intervals when it wears off.
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I'm sure it's all in the technique, but there's no way I could cowp our friendly Zwartbles tup, so I have to say, I don't fancy trying it with a grumpy one!!
We even check his feet with him standing like a horse.
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The tup had a stand of with me today as I was saying hi to my girls. In the head I hopped the fence at rocket speed as he did not back down and starting waving his head about >:( :( >:(which I thought only cattle did. The girls where not impressed and starting to stand on the fence for a scratch. My Zwartbles are more tame and friendly than my dog so have turned into pets that don't come in the house. I check all my Zwartbles feet standing up mainly because I can't get them down unless I pull them on a halter. :roflanim: :roflanim:Have to say I love my sheep.
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There has finally been a tupping. One of my Zwartbles girls stood for tup today and I'm so proud of her as will be getting lambs from zwartbles in April, just a bit later than originally thought. Went down to feed them this morning and once they had finished she stood for him :excited:. however he covered her maybe ten times, Is this normal. My heb girls need to take a lesson from zeds as they still won't stand for Frank. My zed tup is being a bully and taming my girls, I was in the right mind to go in there and put him in his place.
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Rams all vary in how many times they jump , sometimes they don't quite get it right and keep jumping , some need just one go for perfection , also depends how many females are demanding his attention , and some rams can be very rough getting a ewe to stand