The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: cairnhill on April 28, 2010, 10:07:29 am

Title: All boy lambs
Post by: cairnhill on April 28, 2010, 10:07:29 am

My young Hebridean ewe lambed this morning so from 3 ewes I have 4 lambs, all boys.  Just wondering if it has anything to do with the Ram who fathered them all or if its just by chance it has happened this way.

Title: Re: All boy lambs
Post by: Freddiesfarm on April 28, 2010, 07:04:55 pm

You do find that sometimes happens but I doubt it is due to the ram.  Rams tend to produce either good ewe lambs or good ram lambs but don't tend to define which sex each ewe has.

I know with reptiles the sex of the offspring is determined by the ambient temperature but never investigated whether this could happen in mammals!  The last few of my ewes have all had ram lambs.

When I look at the statistics from this year the ratio of male to female lambs is pretty much 1:1 and that is from 150 ewes

Title: Re: All boy lambs
Post by: Hellybee on April 28, 2010, 07:09:15 pm

Weve had 15 ewe lambs out of a total of 48 :(

Title: Re: All boy lambs
Post by: ScotsGirl on April 28, 2010, 10:06:52 pm

Last year I had 50/50 from my mules using a Suffolk ram.  This year I have had majority ewe lambs using a Southdown.  Tupped at the same time as last year although ewes took earlier so whether timing influences it, who knows.

With dogs they say timing  during the season can influence sex of pups ...