Are Your Rams Ready For Breeding? Delma Kennedy OMAFRA

Are Your Rams Ready for Breeding?

By Delma Kennedy, OMAFRA

Have you looked at your rams lately? Of course you have. But I mean really looked close. The farm is busy and sometimes breeding time arrives at times of the year when a lot of things are happening at the same time. Do you know what your conception rates are? I don’t mean that most of the ewes got pregnant. I mean, do you know what exact percentage of ewes became pregnant on the first heat and second heat in each breeding period and overall for the year? The table below shows average conception rates and excellent conception rates for in and out of season.

Season Average Conception

In Out

90% 50-60% Excellent Conception 96%+ 70%+

If these conception rates are not being met in your operation, you might want to take a closer look at your rams. If they are being met, you might already be taking a good look at your rams.

In 2012, 897 rams from 35 accelerated lambing flocks in Spain were evaluated as part of an objective to improve farm productivity. It turned out that 16.7% or 1 in 6 rams were classified as unsuitable breeders. This mean’t that there were fewer effective rams for breeding than the farmers thought there were. Could this be happening on your farm? A closer look at your rams could either give you some peace of mind or point out some changes that should be made. Ram Evaluation Prior to Breeding

Breeding soundness should be evaluated at minimum on an annual basis and ideally two months prior to breeding season. You need to put your hands on each ram and can be done which considers three main components: general health, body condition score and the condition of the genitalia.

General Health

needs to feel good and be in good general health. Soundness of the feet and legs is important to ensure that the ram is ready and willing to mount as many ewes as possible. Limping is a sign that the ram is not pain free. Inspect the hooves and that the teeth are in good shape and that they still meet the top pad well enough to eat efficiently. Also have a look for any other defects like impaired vision, parasites, pneumonia, abcesses or pink eye.

Body Condition Score

A low body condition score is an obvious sign that there is either a health problem or a nutrition problem with your ram. To be ready for breeding, rams should be in a body condition score of 3 or 3.5. This means that when you feel the short ribs in the loin area, you should be able to feel them and they should be smooth and well rounded. You should not be able to put your fingers under the short ribs. The spine over the loin should also feel smooth with the bones well rounded. It has been proven that rams with low body condition scores will have poor reproductive performance. Nutrition has a direct effect on the size of the testicles and the efficiency of sperm production. Rams fed a high diet versus a low diet for 9 weeks had testis with 86% more mass and produced 250% more sperm (Martin, 2010). It is important to note that sperm production in rams takes 49 days. This means that changes in nutrition need to happen at least two months before the ram is turned in with the ewes.

Genital Examination

The primary objective of the examination is to look at the scrotal circumference, check testicular tone and check for lesions. Scrotal circumference is a direct indication of how much sperm can be produced. In a ram, larger is better. The best way to decide if the testicles are big enough is to measure them with a scrotal tape. Some basic rules of thumb are that a ram greater than 70kg should have a scrotal circumference greater than 30 cm and a ram greater than 110kg should have a scrotal circumference greater than 36cm. The following

determine if they are likely good breeders. A basic evaluation

Ram Age Exceptional Satisfactory Questionable

8-14 months >36cm 28-36cm <28cm >14months >40cm 32-40cm <32cm

Ridler, 2012

In order to ensure the ram is keen and ready to breed, he trim them if needed. The teeth should be checked to ensure table shows some suggested guidelines by ram age.

Photo courtesy of Paula Menzies

To check testicles, you should palpate the testes with two hands, one on each side at the base of the scrotum. Feel the spermatic cords between the thumb and fingers and gradually move down

References: Martin GB, Blache D, Miller DW, Vercoe PE 2010. Interactions between nutrition and reproduction in the management of the mature male ruminant. Animal (2010) 4:7, pp1214-1226 Maurya VP, Sejian V, Kumar D, Naqvi SMK 2010. Effect of induced body condition score differences on sexual behavior, scrotal measurements, semen attributes and endocrine responses in Malpura rams under hot semi-arid environment. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 94: e308–e317. Ridler AL, Smith SL, West DM 2012. Ram and Buck Management. Animal Reproduction Science Volume 130: 180-183. Lynn Pezzanite et al. Breeding soundness examinations of rams and bucks. Perdue University extension. Accessed August 13, 2020. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/as/as599-w.pdf

the testis to the epididymis. You are checking the tone and for lumps or lesions. Testiclular tone should be firm if the ram is ready for breeding. A softness indicates a problem such as age, injury, infection, heat stress or lack of nutrition.

Sperm are stored in the epididymis at the bottom of the testis until needed. A large and firm epididymis indicates good sperm reserves. Any lumps on the testes or epididymis is an indication that the ram may not be producing adequate sperm. The study in Spain also found inflammation and swelling associated with the prepuce and penis in 15.7% of 2-5 year old rams and 22% of rams greater than 5 years old. This type of problem could interfere with a rams willingness to breed even if he has good sperm reserves. MORE THAN JUST MILK REPLACER WHAT CAN 1 BAG OF GROBER DO FOR YOU? ? ______L extra saleable milk ______kg’s increased growth ______  % average daily gain ______% less mortality

The annual flock health visit with your veterinarian is a good opportunity to discuss your rams and their breeding ability. Your veterinarian can show you how to assess your rams for potential problems. If you are concerned about the ability of a ram to breed, your flock veterinarian can do a full ram evaluation.

Conclusion

It is easy to take rams for granted. Theydon’t need a lot of care and almost always get the job done. If you are using a group of rams, you may have some free loaders that aren’t pulling their weight. Take an hour, 8 weeks before breeding, and check out your rams. Aim for rams with a condition score of 3.5 with large, firm testicles who are fit and feel good when they are expected to work. OSN

Want the numbers? Ask your Grober Young Animal Specialist today.

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