A Ram With a Problem....Or Is It Me????

[Four Winds Ranch]

I have a 4 yr. old tunis ram. I have bought him as a ram lamb and have used him every year. I have never had a problem, all the ewes lambed with twins and the odd single and triplets.
This year, he has gotten the same treatment as all the other years, and as the other rams, but, out of his 12 ewes, only 4 actually lambed! The other 2 ram's ewes all lambed! All the rams, and ewes had all the exact same feed, mineral, salt, and water, the pens are even pretty close together. They were all in good breeding condition because I monitor their weight with a flushing period 30 days before breding.
So, what I am trying to figure out is; should I be doing some thing special or different in my ram care, or is it possible that rams sometimes just up and suddenly start shooting blanks? If ifertillity happens sometimes, what is the average age( I figured 4 was still too young for something like that).

 

[SheepGirl]

The sterility could be an issue with your ewes and/or your ram. It is unlikely though that eight ewes are infertile, so I'm betting the ram. I don't think it was any of your management skills, however. If you decide to use him next year, before breeding season, get a Breeding Soundness Exam done. (You don't want to do it now because the current hot weather and now that it's 'out of season' he will naturally be less fertile--so wait until before breeding season.)