# Puffy girl parts and heat induced infertility



## doxiemoxie (Jun 20, 2011)

I purchased 2 ewe lambs from the local auction a  month ago with no other information than that they were "cross-breed."  Around my area that's usually dorper or katahdin and suffolk or hamp if  the animal is off a commercial ranch.  But they could be anything!

They are not tame but are coming around to not spooking when I'm near them.  I spy on them a lot with binoculars. 

Anyway, the weather finally got hot here and they are losing their coats proving they are hair sheep (cross).  They also have their lady parts looking pink and puffy the last couple days.  (tails are docked) I assume they are just in estrus but I know ewes don't usually show much.  Has anyone seen this before?  They aren't suppose to be receptive for very long so would the swelling and color disappear fairly soon too?  If it doesn't resolve in another day or two I'll round them up but I hate to stress them if its not necessary.

We are going to look at dorper rams in July  to decide how seriously we want to breed.  I had learned that rams are infertile when the temp gets over 90;  fertility drops off rapidly over 80, and ewes are more likely to not conceive or abort early in high temps.  Yet everyone touts the hair sheep as being about to produce 3 lambings in 2 years. So my other question for hair sheep breeders is when do you breed with regards to the weather?

(Please forgive the lack of pics.  I need to go figure out to load them)


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## doxiemoxie (Jun 23, 2011)

Sheep side is soooo much quieter than the goat side!

I just thought I'd update that the girls are no longer looking like they're in estrus.  I've marked my calendar and will watch for a repeat of signs.

As another side note does anyone with dorper/ dorper cross know how long it usually takes to lose their coats?  The one is going pretty fast but the other is a little slower.  Since we can average temps over 110 where I live I'm thinking I may want to clip the one girl as she's not losing it very well.


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## aggieterpkatie (Jun 23, 2011)

For some reason I have a very easy time telling when one of my ewes is in heat...but all I'll see is a slight bit of discharge from the vulva.  I don't ever see swelling or redness, but I'm sure some ewes could have that.  Definitely keep an eye out for the same signs in 17 days or so.  

And some hair sheep aren't as good shedders as others.


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