I have the opportunity to run 14 primary breeding rams this year, plus two backup pens. Each primary ram will only have four ewes, and the backups will each have 28 ewes. This is a chance to use 16 different rams for breeding, an opportunity that is very rare and potentially very valuable.
Trying to plan how best to use this opportunity has been a lot of work.
My first task was to evaluate and rank all of the adult rams. I have 27, so there’s a good set to choose from. I took my number one and number two rams and decided that they would be the backups this season. Then, I picked out the next best 20. My primary candidates would be selected from those.
From there, I picked four ewes to go with each primary ram. That went fairly well. However, when it came time to put the backup pens together, I got stuck. I wanted to combine groups of ewes so that I didn’t have to sort or handle them after the preliminary breeding. Handling them can pose a small risk to the potential lambs. I got bogged down in the problem of groups not going to my chosen backups, plus using rams in more than one primary group. I got frustrated and gave up for the day.
When I felt up to it, I tried again. This time, I worked the problem in reverse.
I sorted all of my ewes into major bloodline groups. Then, I sorted the groups into the two backup ram pens. I took my two backup rams out of the running for the primaries.
Next, I took each separate group of ewes and sorted them into seven groups of four ewes each. These will be my primary breeding groups. In this sorting, I tried to keep closely related ewes together (moms, daughters, and granddaughters), or otherwise form groups of four of similar quality.
Finally, I took all of the potential primary rams, took their pedigrees, and laid them out on the table so I could see them. I had 20 rams picked out as possible primary breeders. Only 18 pedigrees fit on the table, so the other two ended up on the counter.
For each group of four ewes, I would turn over the rams I could not use for one reason or another. I’m trying not to double up on any Abbotstone Urwin bloodlines, for example. I also wanted to improve wool and meat quality in some lines, so I tried to pair ewes with rams that would improve their carcass traits.
For each group of four ewes, I picked a number one and a number two primary ram. I did each individual group of four ewes separately, starting with all 20 potential mates.
Then, I went through all of the groups to make sure I didn’t double up on any. Where I did, I went to the backup ram for one or the other of the groups. I was left with only a single group of four ewes with both their first and second choices taken. I did the process over again for that group, this time adding a third choice.
The entire process, from start to finish, took about four hours. Fortunately, I now have all the matings planned. I also got to review all of my mating plans and choices with a good friend. He is a retired animal science professor in California who also breeds sheep, goats, and cattle. He agreed not only with my groupings but with my reasons for grouping them, too. He thought the mating plan made sense. There are some riskier matings, as well as some that will test unproven rams, but on the whole, I’m pleased that it worked out as well as it did.
Now to get all of the girls bred and see what we get next spring!