SELECTING FLOCK RAMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22627, 15 January 1937, Page 16

SELECTING FLOCK RAMS

EARLY BUYING ADVISED FEATURES TO LOOK FOR FEEDING AND CONDITION BY H.B.T. A particularly short-sighted policy, adopted by many slieopfarmors, is that of leaving the purchase or ,selection of tlx) rams for annual replacement until they are required far mating. In flock improvement the ram has considerably more than a 50 per cent influence, for, whereas the qualities of each ewe arc transmitted in the season to one, or at most, two lambs, thoso of the ram are impressed upon fifty or more. It is therefore chiefly through the correct selection of rams that that most important feature in a flock, evenness of type, is established.

The selection of rams is indeed so important that no reasonable time or trouble spent in discovering and picking them can be considered as excessive. And this leads one to consideration of the best age at which selection should lie made. Where to Buy Assuming that the sheepfarmer, from his observation of the stock seen at shov. s, ram fairs or in advertisements, has decided upon the type of ram which would best nick with his ewes, he would be well advised to purchase sires of I the desired type from as near home as possible. This ensures that climatic and food conditions being nearly similar, there will be loss probability of the ; sheep receiving a check in development ! or health following the transfer to their new home. Failing being able to get ; suitable rams from a breeder in one's own neighbourhood, considerable care should be exercised to secure them from a locality where the grasses and climate are nearly similar. Where distant rams must necessarily be purchased, those coming from a wet to a drier climat<J will suffer less from tho change than where the conditions are reversed. When to Select Vigorous health and early maturity are allied features equally as important in flock rams as is evenness of type, and these qualities can bo best estimated early in the spring just prior to or immediately following shearing. The shearling ram is then at the end of his first fifteen months of development, and those which lack constitution, or have faults of wool or conformation, can be readily detected: a matter which is often difficult when, later, liberal feeding and considerable wool growth obscures defects.

There is a considerable difference between mere size and early maturity. Generally the big shearling ram first takes the eye of the prospective buyer, but more often the low-set, thick and deep-bodied sheep with a thoroughly masculine head and carriage, even when only a hogget, will prove to be the producer of the best early-maturing lambs. Boldness and masculinity are essentials and any ram without these characteristics should be discarded, however attractive his fleece may be. Indication of Prepotency Prepotency, or the ability to transmit his chief characteristics to his gets, is another important characteristic. Without this rather indefinable quality the otherwise most perfect ram is almost valueless, for if he is of the "recessive" type his offspring will invariably resemble the ewe more than the ram. The only reliable indications of prepotency are, in tho writer's opinion, a bold and rather aggressive carriage, prominent eyes set wide apart, a short nose from eyes to snout, and a wide muzzle with capacious nostrils. With the exception of the first characteristic, which denotes inherited courage, and the prominent eyes, which indicate descent from a long line of flock leaders, the remaining features suggest that the animal enjoys a robust constitution, which is inseparably linked with prepotency. No anaemic and weedy animal is prepotent. The best guide of all to prepotency, however, is an examination of tho sire and dam of the ram, and a knowledge of how they have been bred. Prepotency is largely the result of close breeding over a number of generations, whereby a strong family resemblance is inherited and transmitted. If an inbred ram having the desired characteristics and constitution can be secured, he is worth twenty rams lacking fixed family traits, where tho establishment of uniformity in the flock is concerned.

In order to secure rams of the desired, and therefore the only worth while type, it is necessary, even from the biggest and best flocks, to have the right of early selection. Rams which have been picked over by half a dozen previous buyers are seldom worth while as flock builders. For this reason a common practice among breeders of yarding a cut of rams only sufficient to allow the buyers a reasonable rejection is to be commended, provided the rejects are kept in a separate mob from those iinoffercd, and subsequently sold as rejects from former buyers. Reasons for Early Selection

No ram breeder likes to see his sheep going avvav other than in first-class condition, hut in his own best interests the buyer should insist on taking delivery of his rams as soon as possible after early purchase. The breeder is prone to put the young rams on the best possible feed, and seldom objects to keeping them until the mating season is at hand. 'Thev then, in condition and general appearance, "do him credit," and probably influence further sales in subsequent seasons. This is, however, the worst, possible treatment the rams could receive from the sheepfarmcr's point of view. He does not want fat and sluggish rams to turn with his flock. They should be in only fresh but comparatively hard condition. I'ieli feeding, especially on high-protoin-eon-tent pastures, lias been proved to induce temporary sterility in males of both cattle arul sheep. In order to have fertile, active rams wilh which to commence the season, they should he grazed, from at least January until March, on ordinarTTy good hill country, where they are compelled to take plenty of exercise in the search for food. If these grazing conditions are provided on the sheepman's o\v,i property, where the rams can become acclimatised, and at home in their new surroundings, the lamb crop will bo much more numerous and sturdy. By all means feed the rams well, ami spoil them at intervals, during the tupping season, but do not on any account have the rams fat when they are joined* with the ewes.

Wlk'ii our sheepfarmers a\vaken to (lit' value of early selection and correct feeding of Hock rams prior to mating, the hulk of I he ram sales will he made on (lie stud farms, not, through the rani fairs—and delivery of sires for use in March -will be taken off shears.