[Riverside21]

Morning everyone!

We recently moved our sheep 2-3 miles 3 weeks into tupping, could this be the reason our ram has serviced all our girls twice and his efforts aren't holding?

Thanks!

[VSS]

Are they all repeating? If it was me I would get the ram down to the vet for a fertility check. A surprising number of tups are sub fertile.

Also worth checking the ewes for toxoplasmosis which can cause the ewes to keep repeating and also supressed libido and fertility in rams.

[jaykay]

Possibly, it depends how stressful they found it.

Most mammals won't implant a new embryo if 'times are hard or stressful' since that's obviously not a good time to be weighed down with a pregnancy nor producing new offspring.

Then again, he might be shooting blanks  Have you used him before? Any signs the ewes are beginning to hold now? 

[Riverside21]

We started with a red marker, after 2 and a half weeks all but 3 had been marked red. We then changed to blue where all of them are now blue. We're just about to change to another colour to see if they mark up again. The rams a ram lamb so not used before. We took a bit of a risk by putting him to 46 girls, however I wouldn't have thought this was an issue as he has serviced all of them...twice!

[Riverside21]

We made two trips moving them 2-3 miles using only one deck on the trailor. The travel was no longer than 15mins, I wouldn't have thought it was too stressful

[shep53]

I would replace him NOW, if the ewes are pregnant fine if not then the second ram should hopefully do the job .  GET him fertility tested so  you know weather fertile or not . Even if the move was stressfull ( which i would doubt ) it would not effect 100% .  Yes TOXO can lead to barren ewes but again not 100%                 I am getting a ram fertility tested next week costing  £22 , he had an abcess on his bottom jaw last week, and if he had a temperature he may be temporarily infertile, it might be two months until he's fertile again.

[jaykay]

I reckon no more than 12 ewes to a tup lamb. The worry with expecting him to get round 46 is that he may not get them at just the right time, which could be another reason for them not holding.
Enthusiasm but lack of experience in realising timing is critical possibly (like many young males  )

I'd replace him quickly too, in case you end up with no lambs at all.

[lachlanandmarcus]

We are using a tup lamb this year but are using 2 so that if one is unkeen or not fertile we should still be ok. This is for 16 ewes, so it will be a nice intro for the boys too.

[Anke]

He is (in my opinion) firing blanks. If he was not sure in his technique yet I would expect him to be covering a few at least successfully.
I have used a texel tup lamb last year on 22 ewes, and all were tupped (only once  ) wihtin three weeks. 46 seems to be quite a lot though...
However I have also had a (proven) tup going round the ewes twice a couple of winters back, and there were no obvious signs of him being ill. Toxo could have been possible, but he was curried in the spring afterwards. Fortunately I did have another chap available.
I would replace yours now and if you are sure you really want to use him again get him fertility checked. If you are not sure (and he didn't cost an arm & a leg), then it is probably best to bring him to the market now...

[jaykay]

He is (in my opinion) firing blanks. If he was not sure in his technique yet I would expect him to be covering a few at least successfully.

good point 

[SteveHants]

I would say that he was infertile too. I wouldn't have thought that number (or indeed, any, in most cases) wouldd lose embryos due to that kind of transportation.


Put another ram in quick.

[SallyintNorth]

We made two trips moving them 2-3 miles using only one deck on the trailor. The travel was no longer than 15mins, I wouldn't have thought it was too stressful

Um... is that 23 ewes on one deck?  Unless it's a very very large trailer, or they're very very small ewes, they'd have been fairly packed in?  Or did you mean 23 ewes across two decks, twice?

However stressful or otherwise the journey, or whatever other stress (could've had a hot air balloon going over, a pack of hounds running through - all kinds of events can cause some ewes to not implant or lose an embryo), any kind of problem would, as others have said, not usually make every one not hold.

However, if he's only a few days into the second cycle, I would just give it a few more days.  When an inexperieced tup goes in, he may mark quite a lot of bottoms he hasn't fully and successfully serviced, so you may get quite a few apparent repeats for the first few days of the second cycle.  But if it doesn't settle down, then definitely get another tup on the girls and either get this boy tested or send him down the road.

[Riverside21]

Just an update!
 
 Amongst the flock was a small (10 ewes) pedigree flock, and a Suffolk x mule flock. The pedigree ram in question and the pedigree flock have been separated and we have put a Charollais ram to the Suffolk x mule flock. The Charollais has since marked 4 of the Suffolk x mules in 2 days. Has anyone got any more thoughts?
 
 The trailer was of adequate size.

[SallyintNorth]

 

Just an update!
 
 Amongst the flock was a small (10 ewes) pedigree flock, and a Suffolk x mule flock. The pedigree ram in question and the pedigree flock have been separated and we have put a Charollais ram to the Suffolk x mule flock. The Charollais has since marked 4 of the Suffolk x mules in 2 days. Has anyone got any more thoughts?
 
 The trailer was of adequate size.

Easier to read with a few more pixels!

Sounds like there was a problem with the ram. 

[Riverside21]

Sorry, I've no idea how that happened!

I'd best book an appointment for him to see the vet!