Author Topic: What age to breed suffolk cross ewes (Read 4749 times)

Jackie · « **on:** September 25, 2010, 04:11:14 am »

My lambs are now approx 7 months old so my question is; What age can I put a ram in with them for breeding?

morri2 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 25, 2010, 07:33:43 am »

Hello Jackie, you were early this morning!! Personally, I would not put a ewe to the ram until its at least a year old. earlier than this is, I think, too young, although I do know farmers who do put ewe lambs in with the ram and they do produce lambs, as young as they are. Another issue is size. If they are still quite small it could be detrimental to their development, not to mention the damage which could be done by a large heavy ram. It will be interesting to see what the others on this site do in these circumstance. Cheers.

andywalt · « **Reply #2 on:** September 25, 2010, 08:22:13 am »

Hi Jackie

I am about to get some suffolk x ewes and its all a learning curve for me, where are you based Jackie? not through my experiance but others that I have spoken to say dont put the ewe lambs with the ram the first year, but also they say, well that one escaped and the ram got her, and she lambed ok, so I would say dont do it if you have the facilities to seperate them. cheers

humphreymctush · « **Reply #3 on:** September 25, 2010, 03:48:48 pm »

some breeds and crosses (mule) are traditionally bred from in their first year but will require extra feeding because they are still growing themselves aswell as growing a lamb inside. The reason for this is to maximise profit. It is generally better to put the ram in when thay are one and a half. That way they will have the chance to grow properly before they need to lamb. Ewe lambs are however reputed to have stronger mothering instinct than gimmers.