# sheep breeding cycle and wethering questions



## watchdogps (Jun 23, 2011)

How often do ewes come into heat (if thats not the term, pardon, I'm a dog person)? If I get a ran wethered by banding, how long does that take to be effective and do I need to keep him away from any ewes in "heat" while he's still banded?


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## aggieterpkatie (Jun 24, 2011)

A ewe's heat cycle is 17 days.  Once rams are banded, the blood is cut off to the testicles and they die pretty quickly.  If you really want to be safe, a week should be plenty of time after banding.


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## watchdogps (Jun 24, 2011)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> A ewe's heat cycle is 17 days.  Once rams are banded, the blood is cut off to the testicles and they die pretty quickly.  If you really want to be safe, a week should be plenty of time after banding.


Oh good, thanks!


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## patandchickens (Jun 24, 2011)

Is there not a problem with sperm resident in the, uh, the upper parts of the plumbing (sorry, anatomy was never my best subject)? 

Horses can sometimes impregnate mares up to a month or more after gelding -- and that's actual "cut the balls out and feed them to the dog" gelding.

Pat


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## aggieterpkatie (Jun 24, 2011)

patandchickens said:
			
		

> Is there not a problem with sperm resident in the, uh, the upper parts of the plumbing (sorry, anatomy was never my best subject)?
> 
> Horses can sometimes impregnate mares up to a month or more after gelding -- and that's actual "cut the balls out and feed them to the dog" gelding.
> 
> Pat


Hmm....sperm can be stored in the epididymis but that would be banded along with the testicles.  I guess there could be residual sperm stored in the spermatic cord, but I'm not sure if there's a real chance of impregnation or not.


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## patandchickens (Jun 24, 2011)

Well it is structurally exactly the same in horses, and former stallions can very definitely sometimes be fertile for a month or more after castration, and dogs for several weeks at least. It's not that the sperm is formally "stored" elsewhere, it's that there is some THERE, in the internal plumbing of the animal... and all's it takes is _one_ of 'em. Well, plus an ovum, obviously.

A quick google did not turn up anything about this in sheep specifically but I would suggest either asking the vet, doing more research, or waiting at least several weeks if you don't want lambs in five months.

JMHO,

Pat


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 12, 2011)

I wanted to give a little update.  The day we were writing in this thread, I emailed Susan Shoenian who is the MD sheep and goat specialist and makes the Sheep 101, 201, Sheep and Goat.com, etc pages.  Here's the reply I got today:



> From Stephan Wildeus (Virginia State University).
> 
> 
> 
> Most of the sperm reserves (epididymis) are located in the portion of the tract removed by banding.  Only a small portion of the vas deferens will remain within the body cavity.   I would imagine the ram should be infertile within a week after banding.


Hope that helps!


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