STETTLER, Alta. – The sheep industry’s reluctance to perform semen and fertility tests could be costing it thousands of dollars, a veterinarian says.
Dr. Kathy Parker has developed a draft ram breeding evaluation report that will help sheep producers judge whether their rams are fit to breed.
Alberta Lamb is also looking for funding to develop a pilot program that would teach producers to accurately measure ram scrotal circumference and encourage the industry to semen test rams before selling or breeding them.
“We’ve recognized there is a need,” Parker said during the Ultimate Sheep Seminar hosted by the Battle River Research Group in Stettler.
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Parker was previously a cattle breeder and said she would never sell or breed a bull without a semen test.
However, she also said it never occurred to her or other sheep producers that fertility tests were also needed in rams.
Parker said her family once sold a ram that was returned because it couldn’t breed. She said she vowed never to sell another ram without first conducting a breeding evaluation.
“I was appalled and then embarrassed we hadn’t done it sooner.”
She said Alberta Lamb hopes the development of a ram fertility evaluation will become the norm, just as it is in the cattle industry.
Cattle producers began conducting semen tests on bulls in the late 1970s to improve the standards in their industry, but the sheep industry has never done so.
Parker said her research could find little information on ram fertility tests, even in sheep producing countries like New Zealand and Australia.
She said there is a direct link between scrotal circumference in rams and ovarian capacity in their female offspring. Rams with smaller scrotal size produce female offspring with a limited breeding lifetime.
“Ovarian capacity is what she’s born with,” she said. “There is a direct link between scrotal circumference and female fertility. It’s long term, but it’s real.”
Parker hopes the pilot project will raise awareness of the need to be more vigilant when selecting breeding rams.
With training, producers can take accurate scrotal measurements.
As well, most veterinarians have the tools for semen testing cattle, and the same principles apply.
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