In the last few weeks a lot of our early flocks have been preparing for tupping and the start of breeding. I like to see careful preparation around this time to maximise the breeding season. For the purposes of breeding I split this into two groups: the rams and breeding ewes.

Rams

The ram can often be forgotten about until he is called into action. Rams should be carefully prepared pre-tupping to ensure they are healthy and capable of working well.

It is very important when sponging ewes or synchronising that you don’t overwork rams. A ratio of 1:10 (ram: ewes) is acceptable.

With synchronising, you are getting a lot of ewes to come around at once and rams will only be able to mate efficiently with a certain number of ewes each day in this case.

It is important that your rams receive the same dosing and vaccinations as the rest of the flock. I will routinely recommend a fluke and worm dose for rams pre-tupping to ensure parasites are not a concern.

Rams also benefit from trace element supplementation. In our area, selenium (Se) is low and we recommend rams get Se and cobalt supplementation. Selenium plays a role in sperm production and again this is why we recommend this to a lot of our flocks.

It is vital that the ram is treated like a sexual athlete. He needs to be in optimum body condition before he is asked to perform intensively over the four- to six-week period.

The phrase ‘fit not fat’ is appropriate, with a BCS of 3.5 in a scale of 1-5 being recommended. Lameness is another key area that dramatically affects how rams perform. Four weeks out from breeding, feet should be inspected and any necessary treatments given. I will always recommend that rams are foot-bathed prior to tupping.

By doing these simple steps you can be sure that your rams are performing.

It is also advisable to fertility-check rams, especially where they are in low numbers or when ewes are synchronised. This can be done on farm and will give a result on fertility for that day, which can pick up infertile rams pre-breeding. A good idea also would be to raddle rams to monitor performance and test rams not seen marking ewes.

Ewes

Next, concentrate on ewes.

Again dosing and vaccinations should be up to date. Prior to tupping a lot of flocks will vaccinate against toxoplasma and enzootic abortion (EAE). It is very important that these vaccines are given prior to breeding.

They will only be given once in most flocks, so breeding replacements or bought-in ewes need to be done. It is important to discuss this with your own vet with regards to vaccinating for abortion. Note that there is a lead-in time with these and they need to be ordered two weeks in advance of use.

Again all bought in ewes should be dosed and vaccinated, as these are usually the source of a lot of the infectious agents that cause abortion in flocks. Ewe condition prior to breeding is equally important and they should have BCS done to pick out thin ewes that may need to be given special attention. It can be a good idea to do FECs on these thin ewes to rule out parasitic infections.

Trace elements can play a role in conception and early embryo losses, so each flock should assess this at farm level. I recommend a lot of ewes are supplemented a bolus pre-tupping and again pre-lambing to give a constant supply of these trace elements at risk times.

We have seen a few flocks with low iodine affecting early embryo losses and fertility in ewes. So again discuss with your vet the best course of action for your flock. It is also a good time to foot-bath ewes prior to breeding.

It is also a good time to dip ewes if not already done, or to apply fly spot on treatments. This should of course be done to rams also.

Some flocks will also sponge ewes for 14 days to synchronise them.

Another technique that might be used is using vasectomised rams to bring ewes around prior to tupping. These techniques will aid in shortening the breeding period and tightening lambing. Again these techniques should be planned carefully.