[Blinkers]

I've decided to keep back a ram lamb as a future Teaser ram in the hopes of trying to tighten the lambing period in future.   What I wondered was, when is the best time to get him castrated?    Does if make a difference to the level of Testosterone he's going to produce if he is castrated as a lamb or should I wait until nearer autumn and then get him done?
Cheers me dears.

[funkyfish]

You could have him vasectomised, so he still wants to do the deed, but cant get them preggers.

[VSS]

A Teaser must be vasectomise, not castrated. They need to be done by the vet at least eight weeks before you want them to work to be sure that all the little wrigglers have cleared out of the system.

I would be wary of keeping back one of my own lambs for use as a teaser - there is too much risk of getting things mixed up and putting getting him mixed up with your fertile rams. We have white faced welsh mountains and have, over the years used the following as teasers: Suffolk, Llanwenog, Wiltshire Horn, a black texel cross and poll dorset crosses. All look totally different from our fertile tups so no risk of mixing up.

ALso bear in mind that if you want the teaser to vring your ewes into season, you need to use a tup breed that is going to be sexually active a bit earlier in the year than your own sheep, and something that is naturally active.

If I was you, given that you've got Ryelands and Dartmoors? I would look for something like a Llanwenog or a Poll Dorset. The teaser's we have got at the moment are Dorset crosses - ugly things to look at, but they work really well. We have just lambed 140 ewes in three weeks flat. Only a dozen or so didn't hold to the first service.

[Marches Farmer]

What do you want the teaser for?   If it's for a compact lambing period we run our rams out of sight and sound of the ewes from weaning until 21 days before we want to put the tups in then run one in the field alongside them.  You get a bit of a ditch where he keeps running up and down the fenceline but our tups stay in for 21 days only and we usually get only one or two returners.

[SteveHants]

I tried that the first year I had sheep and the tup stayed behind the fence for three whole days before he smashed it down and tupped the ewes.....

[Blinkers]

Thanks for the feedback guys.   I've tried all sorts of way with the tups a mile and a half away, as well as the other side of the fence  but still seem to get an elongated lambing period, so thought I'd try a teaser.
Dot - the one I've got in mind is a .....................3/4 Zwartble x 1/4 suffolk, so he'll be very easily identifiable  .  They're a Dutch breed and used to very similar climates to ours, so can but try I guess.
Ahha - vasectomised rather than castrated.....that makes sense.....good job I checked before getting him chopped  .
Cheers guys.
 

[Blinkers]

I tried that the first year I had sheep and the tup stayed behind the fence for three whole days before he smashed it down and tupped the ewes.....

I had that happen too a couple of years ago.   Bl***dy great Lleyn Tup smashed the gate and tupped my Coloured ryelands.......

[VSS]

You'll need to make sure you keep your ewes well away from any males for a good 8 weeks before you put the teaser in.

Put him in 14 days before the date you want to put the tups in and leave him for the full two weeks. Take him out and put the ram in on the 14th day. You won't see much activity for the first few days,but then on days 5 - 10 after putting the ram in, it should be pretty busy. It will then tail off after that.

Using these timings we find that about 70% of our ewes are lambing within about a week. I don't know how many sheep you have got, but we find that 45 ewes per ram is enough when the tupping period is so tight. Any more than that an he simply can't get around them all.

[Blacksheep]

Hi Blinkers, a few commercial farmers use Zwartbles tups as teasers because they are so distinguishable!

Hope the Zwartbles x girls are doing well 

[Blinkers]

Hi Blinkers, a few commercial farmers use Zwartbles tups as teasers because they are so distinguishable!

Hope the Zwartbles x girls are doing well 

Hi Blacksheep - they certainly are and I've added a couple of purebreds too 

[Blinkers]

You'll need to make sure you keep your ewes well away from any males for a good 8 weeks before you put the teaser in.

Put him in 14 days before the date you want to put the tups in and leave him for the full two weeks. Take him out and put the ram in on the 14th day. You won't see much activity for the first few days,but then on days 5 - 10 after putting the ram in, it should be pretty busy. It will then tail off after that.

Using these timings we find that about 70% of our ewes are lambing within about a week. I don't know how many sheep you have got, but we find that 45 ewes per ram is enough when the tupping period is so tight. Any more than that an he simply can't get around them all.

Many many thanks Dot - I'm going to copy and paste this and keep it in my diary ready for next tupping time.    You said he needs to be done at least 8 weeks before he's due to go in; is there an 'earliest' date too, so that I can plan for somewhere inbetween perhaps?
 
 

[VSS]

How old is he?

[Blinkers]

A week 

[VSS]

And have you got a date in mind for putting the rams in in the autumn?

[Blacksheep]

Glad that the girls are doing well, and to hear that you now have some purebreds too!