The Ram Effect

It has been an exciting few days on the farm as we welcomed another new arrival. Following the addition of Martha and Mellie (who are as cute as ever), we added Loki the ram into the mix. Loki is a three year old Shetland ram from Hill Grove Farm. He is our "visiting scholar" at Gael Glen Farm for the next 51 days.  He has work to do!

Loki the ram.

Charlie and the sheep were not sure what to make of Loki's arrival.  He endured a few trial bunts from Abbott.  However, once Abbott realized his horns were a quarter of the size of Loki's and it was (I expect) unpleasant to head butt him, he stopped initiating this particular interaction. 

The sheep were also on the receiving end of a few donkey bites and kicks.  It was Loki's presence that got everyone riled up but Charlie's kicks and bites seemed to be dispersed evenly among all the sheep; whomever happened to be in Charlie's line of fire got it good.

Watch out!

With the arrival of Loki, breeding season on Gael Glen Farm has begun. The introduction of a ram to ewes that have not been in sight or smell of one results in the "ram effect". This is when the ram's pheromones stimulate the onset of estrus, that is, he makes the ewes go into heat.

Loki and Violet.
There was a lot of butt sniffing and tail flagging going on in the farmyard yesterday.

Loki's presence should induce Alice and Violet to ovulate in 3 to 4 days. He arrived yesterday (January 13th), so on January 15th to 16th. This first heat is called a "silent heat" and cannot be detected by the ram. Following this silent heat, there will be two normal estrus peaks, with some ewes cycling around day 18 (January 30th) and the remainder around day 25 (February 6th). Ewes that do not conceive at either of these times may return to heat in another 17 days (February 23rd). It is expected that 60 to 70 percent of the ewes will conceive at the first normal estrus. Of the remaining ewes, 60 to 70 percent should conceive at the second estrus. 

Breeding seasons for sheep are typically the length of two or three heat periods (~34-51 days). After that, a ram is usually separated from the ewes for fear that he might be too aggressive with them during pregnancy.

The average gestation length in sheep is 147 days.  This puts us on track for June or July lambs if all goes as planned.  Farm life is really getting exciting!