By Kirsten Williams, SAC senior beef and sheep consultant

You have made your selection, bid successfully and now have a new tup at home, but the next steps are just as important.

It is always worth performing an MOT and tailoring the ration they are fed on. Both are equally important in ensuring each ram is fit, healthy and fertile, so he can serve ewes and leave numerous good lamb crops.

A good ram MOT detects 90% of problems but are you releasing him to ewes, especially in single sire mating groups, with just simple examinations for signs of illness, and his genitals for abnormalities?

The basis of a good tup MOT is a fertility test which is a very simple tool and confirms a good MOT. However, a poor semen sample doesn’t necessarily mean the tup is infertile, it is essential to re-test these animals as the poor count could be due to stress, heat, etc.

Often when these sheep are retested they give a better sample, giving you the assurance that he is fertile and if he is not, gives you time to negotiate back with the seller and get a suitable replacement. There are two methods of fertility testing, the first being electro-ejaculation, the second using an artificial vagina.

Electro-ejaculation is carried out by most veterinary practices, it is done on farm and the semen is evaluated at the time of collection. The semen is assessed for sperm count, mobility, shape, size and any abnormalities, disease or infection present. It is good practice to have contact between a ram and a ewe prior to collection; he should then be rested for three days before collection to ensure a good sample is given.

The second method involves using an oestrus ewe as a teaser, when the tup jumps the ewe, a technician quickly mimics the ewes vagina using an artificial vagina, the ram ejaculates in to this giving a sample, which can be assessed on farm under a microscope. This can often be time consuming on virgin tups, which have never mounted or drawn. The tup could be introduced to synchronised ewes (using progesterone sponges) to “train” mounting, drawing and insemination, ensuring ease of semen collection when testing his fertility.

Remember though, a poor semen sample doesn’t necessarily mean the tup is infertile. It is essential any such animals are re-tested as the poor count could be due to stress, heat, etc. Often when these rams are retested they produce a better sample, giving you the assurance that he is fertile and if he is not, gives you time to negotiate back with the seller and get a suitable replacement.

Ensuring your breeding males are fully fertile is a very valuable tool. It gives you peace of mind and assists with a tight lambing period and high lambing percentage.

If tups are sub-fertile, they may still work and get ewes in lamb, but they may need to serve one ewe numerous times to get her in lamb, this takes time and reduces the amount of ewes he can serve in a three-week period for tight lambing.

A study was carried out to evaluate semen collected from commercial rams by electro-ejaculation by Fiona Lovatt. This involved testing 280 tups which were presented for pre-breeding soundness examinations. Only 84% were suitable for breeding, 13% being not being suitable and the remaining 3% were questionable and re-tested at a later date.

Fertility tests should be carried out 1-2 months prior to mating, ideally on all breeding males, including newly purchased and aged tups. It can take six weeks for sperm production to recover after a problem, so if at the first test his sperm count is low, evaluate why this could be, has the tup been under stress? Tups that have just gone through the sale ring will have been stressed so should not be tested immediately they get home. If the initial count is low, it is good practice to re-test some weeks later.

Remember the tup is half your flock. If he is fully fit and fertile he has the potential to serve 80-100 ewes, to rapidly increase the genetics of your flock and the quality of your marketable lambs.

Electro-ejaculation Artificial Vagina

Inexperienced tups Tup must know how to mount and inseminate

Can be stressful Little Stress

Quick Speed depends on experience of tup

Requires oestrous ewe

One poor sample, should not fail a tup, this animal should be re-tested a few weeks later.