Degrees of separation?

KatahdinMomma

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Hello all!

On my first herd with katahdins. We have 3 ewes and a ram that are currently running together. Once the lambs are born and we begin to build our flock a bit, how do I continue the flock? Does the ram father continue to mate down the line, or do I bring in new ewes and separate the flock? Do I consider a second ram at some point? TIA!
 

norseofcourse

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I have a small flock too, currently 4 ewes and one ram. Three of the ewes are unrelated to the ram, one of the ewes is his daughter. I've bred him to his daughter, but personally I wouldn't keep any offspring of father/daughter and breed again to the father/grandfather. I know others who would, though, so there's not a hard and fast rule.

If she (his daughter) ever has a really really nice lamb, nice enough to be worth keeping as a breeding ewe, I would want to use a different ram to breed to it (the granddaughter) at that point. Or I'd sell it to someone so it would get bred to a different ram.

I'd like to keep this ram for a few more seasons (simply because as a small flock owner, it's more economical for me than buying a new ram every year or two). My flock is young enough I don't really need any replacement ewes yet. When I reach that point, or get another lamb or two that's quality enough to add to my ewe flock, I'd get a new ram at that time. I plan to keep my flock fairly small - I don't want to overload my land, and my hay storage area is just enough right now for the number of animals I have.
 

SheepGirl

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I get a new ram every 1 to 2 years. So far I've been keeping back all my ewe lambs to grow my flock, but now that my flock has reached its max size I need to do some culling to get it down.... especially after my last ram gifted me with 8 out of 11 ewe lambs! If I keep a ram for two years, I will breed him to his first year daughters. You don't need to buy replacement ewes, unless they are better than what you could produce yourself. In that case, buy a better ram and keep the best daughters every year and get rid of your bad ewes.
 

KatahdinMomma

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This makes sense. I thought maybe that would be the case. Just getting a new ram, or even separating flocks. Good info, thank you!
 

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