Keeping ram with flock?

[Nica Shepherd]

Greetings all
First time post and new to raising sheep. I'm located in Nicaragua at over 1600m(mile high) where the temp stays in the 60s low 70s year around. Intensive rotational grazing 15 head.
Been studying on the need to manage the ram and keep him separate from the flock.
What happens if my ram stays with the flock? What kind of problems will I run into or is it ok? Ram has been with the flock for the past 3 months and haven't observed any issues.
Thanks for any insight.

 

[SageHill]

Lambs happen!
I separated my ram the first go around once the lambs were born. 27 sheep here in Southern California. Weather warm year round (cold for us is in the 40s winter - and highs 90-100 in the summer with nights in the 60s).
Still new to the raising them there are others here who have lifetimes of experience.

 

[Nica Shepherd]

Lambs happen!
I separated my ram the first go around once the lambs were born. 27 sheep here in Southern California. Weather warm year round (cold for us is in the 40s winter - and highs 90-100 in the summer with nights in the 60s).
Still new to the raising them there are others here who have lifetimes of experience.

I hope so!
I can see that inbreeding would be a problem down the line but if I were to switch out the ram for each generation wouldn't that be ok?

 

[SageHill]

Still on my first ram and starting to think about getting a new one. Haven’t bred him to his daughters yet.
Others here have more experience in this and I’m sure they can give excellent advice.

 

[Baymule]

I like to know when my ewes are going to lamb. I like to plan when they will lamb. If the ram is always in with the ewes, lambing can be scattered for months. Plus the ram can breed the ewes too soon after the ewes give birth. The ewes need a rest between lambing’s. Back to back breeding is hard on the ewes.

 

[Nica Shepherd]

I like to know when my ewes are going to lamb. I like to plan when they will lamb. If the ram is always in with the ewes, lambing can be scattered for months. Plus the ram can breed the ewes too soon after the ewes give birth. The ewes need a rest between lambing’s. Back to back breeding is

Definitely can see the benefit in that.
In studying when ewes should be bred I came across a graph showing how the ewes fertility is seasonal depending on the time of year. Living near the equator here we don't get much variation in temperature or light cycle. Also the contraptions that the rams wear to mark the ewes when they breed are not available here.
How would I know when or for how long I should leave the ram in with the ewes?

 

[Baymule]

What breed are your ewes? Hair or wool sheep?
Ewes cycle every 17 days. Two month could catch 3 to 4 cycles.

Say you put the ram in on December 1. For simplicity sake, let’s say all the ewes just finished their heat cycle 2 days before. And their next cycle would be December 17. Their next cycle would be approximately January 3. Next cycle January 20 . The 17 days may vary a little. You could leave the ram in until end of the month. Or just for good measure, a week or two into February.

You could leave him for 3 month if you wanted to, but some rams harass the ewes constantly and could cause the ewes to lose their pregnancies.

I don’t want to deal with a ram when I’m checking on the ewes, or especially when they are lambing.

 

[Nica Shepherd]

What breed are your ewes? Hair or wool sheep?
Ewes cycle every 17 days. Two month could catch 3 to 4 cycles.

Say you put the ram in on December 1. For simplicity sake, let’s say all the ewes just finished their heat cycle 2 days before. And their next cycle would be December 17. Their next cycle would be approximately January 3. Next cycle January 20 . The 17 days may vary a little. You could leave the ram in until end of the month. Or just for good measure, a week or two into February.

You could leave him for 3 month if you wanted to, but some rams harass the ewes constantly and could cause the ewes to lose their pregnancies.

I don’t want to deal with a ram when I’m checking on the ewes, or especially when they are lambing.

The ewes are a cross of the landrace pelibuey and Dorper hair sheep. The ram is a pretty mellow guy. Don't know if that's just because he's young. Haven't seen him mount a ewe but once in the 3 months I've had the sheep.

So if I have him in with the ewes for 6 weeks regardless of the time of year I can be fairly sure that my ewes will be bred?

Would be good to plan for lambing for the start of the dry season which is right about now which would mean breeding in August. Gets pretty cold with the temp in the lows 60s, high wind and constant rain in the wet season. Don't think the lambs would do well in those conditions.

Thanks for the valuable insight Baymule.
Other than occasionally worming folks around here do pretty much zero to manage their flock.

 

[Baymule]

I’d give it 2 full months, maybe an extra week or two.

Where are you located?

 

[Nica Shepherd]

Mountains of central Nicaragua at 1600m.
Climate here isn't what you'd expect.