Why Are My Animals Reproducing?
Making the most of what you've got to work with, by setting (& re-setting) reproductive goals on the homestead - Part 1
Farming, in many ways, is an art of succession. As one crop is readied for reaping, another must be sown. And while Autumnal efforts naturally converge upon the harvest, preparations for next year must simultaneously begin.
This cycle is presently at the forefront of a shepherd’s mind, as most sheep (and goats) are what we call “short day breeders” - meaning that their prime breeding period is during the months of decreasing day length - in essence, Fall. This is due to an absolutely FASCINATING cascade of sensory organ (eye) to hypothalamus (brain) to hormone (melatonin, thyroid hormones, GnRH, et. al.) communication whose end is the procreation of their species. Ok, I won’t geek out on this right here in front of you. Maybe someday…if you’re interested.
And so, ’tis the season get those rams (or bucks) in with the ladies.
But first! Let’s talk about WHY we want our animals to reproduce in the first place.
Why do we go through the trouble? And producing food is only one piece of this shepherd’s pie. The only way to put our resources to their optimal use is to consider the whole reproductive picture, and align our practices with our husbandry goals.
Tell me about your breeding program.
Don’t think you have a “breeding program”? Well…do you have animals? Do you wish for them to reproduce? Do you facilitate circumstances by which they are able to reproduce?
Yes?
Then my friend, you do indeed manage a breeding program, however un-programmed it may be. I’ve been there. And it’s why we’re here.
Much rewarded is the farmer who sees the reproductive goals of their livestock come to fruition, be they cattle, sheep, chickens, or geese.
So whether you’re just starting out, or you’ve been at this for a while, I encourage you to take a few minutes and a step back, look at your animals through a fresh lens, and honestly consider the “why” behind their propagation.
I had to do this myself several years back.
I had sheep. I shared rams with a friend who’d introduced me to the Katahdin breed. I’d put one in with the ewes sometime in the fall, lamb sometime in the spring, butcher wethers we sold through the farm, put a few in our freezer, then keep a bunch to grow the flock. ‘Cause I had sheep, and that’s just what you do. Sound familiar?
Then one day I realized I had an overgrown ragtag of underwhelming, inefficient animals, many of whom were singling year after year, and too many that were not measuring up conformationally.
When the time came to buy a new ram, I got real, and got serious about what purposes I wanted my flock to serve. The sheep that weren’t going to help achieve those goals were culled. I sold over half the flock, and I paid twice as much for the next ram to help improve the genetic profile of the whole.
And I haven’t looked back. The smaller flock that currently calls me at feeding time is a flock that produces a nearly 200% lamb crop, excels in meat quality, thrives in our environment, and adapts easily to grazing other properties in the summer.
So my question for you is: what is your vision for your herd or flock in the next year? Next 5 years? What changes can be made in your breeding program to help facilitate that vision?
Feed’s too expensive, water too scarce, and time too precious to pour into a husbandry endeavor that’s underachieving & not fulfilling its purpose.
My hope is that the following outline will be a useful catalyst for getting intentional about your production, and for defining which animals best suit your purposes and your particular environment. Set goals for what kind of stock you aim to produce, the numbers of offspring you want, and the ultimate purpose of that group of animals. Then use those goals to guide your breeding/culling decisions, including your herd sire selection (to be continued in Part 2).
It’s breeding season for small ruminants, so I do use sheep as an example quite a bit. But these principles can be applied to breeding any livestock, whether they be cows or pigs, chickens or geese. Even bees! The fundamentals are the same.
As you comb through the following considerations, pull out the most important components to you and your operation’s specific needs, and jot them down. By the end, you’ll have a pretty clear picture of the direction you want to take your herd or flock, and you’ll be ready to move on to looking for the herd sire you need to help move your enterprise toward its mark.
WHAT IS YOUR HERD/FLOCK INTENDED TO PRODUCE?
Meat
Milk (eggs for chickens, ducks, etc.)
Wool/fiber (sheep, alpacas, Angora rabbits)
Multi-purpose (meat, milk/eggs, fiber)
Seed stock - These are purebred, registered animals sold as breeding stock to other producers. This is usually less of a focus for homestead operations, but can have a place as a complementary enterprise in purebred herds/flocks.
Grazing services - This one may sound a little strange, but it’s becoming more and more popular in my neck of the woods, where wildfire suppression is big business. For these producers, most offspring are maintained in the flock (goats/sheep) to help grow the grazing capacity of the business. Whatever offspring are not kept, are sold as meat lambs/goats, but more as a by-product and less of a primary consideration. Thus hardiness, aggressive foraging, and athleticism would be prioritized in these animals over meat quality.
WHAT ENVIRONMENT ARE YOUR ANIMALS EXPECTED TO INHABIT?
I don’t know about you, but our Northern California environment has undergone some drastic changes in the past year as a result of the drought. Hence many producers, ourselves included, have had to take serious inventory of feed availability and which animals will be able to continue here in the face of dry conditions.
Have your conditions changed? Does your land produce sufficient grass and forages to maintain your animals, or will you need to import hay? Do you have acreage to graze your sheep, or are they confined to a smaller paddock? Outlining the coming year’s feed expectations will help you continue to focus down your breeding goals in alignment with environmental demands.
Irrigated pasture - A luxury of limited supply in our area.
Forested land - Selecting for animals that are hardy foragers can be an advantage when your land (or land to which you have access) is more tree than grass heavy. For example, our property is considered “blue oak savannah” - a fancied up term for hilly, dry, and littered with brushy, blue oak trees. Our little hair sheep are actually able to efficiently utilize much of the forages here, including the oak leaves and acorns. Though, I wouldn’t dream of expecting the huge British breeds (which I used to raise) to do the same - they’d starve.
Seasonal grassland, with hay supplementation
Rotationally grazed pastures
Small, single paddock
Dry lot
WHAT MATERNAL IMPROVEMENTS DOES YOUR FLOCK/HERD NEED?
Some maternal traits, such as number born (single vs. multiples), milking ability, mothering instincts, etc. are considered “lowly heritable traits”1 - which means that environmental factors, such as nutrition and stress, play a large role in these desirable qualities being expressed in offspring.
However, genetics ALSO influence these traits, so it’s wise to consider both dam's AND sire’s heritage when deciding on their suitability for your herd/flock2.
If one of your goals is to keep female offspring to incorporate into your herd (called “replacements”), you’ll want to be selective about the maternal qualities that are passed to them, considering what attributes those offspring will inherit from both dam and sire.
Keep mind that the dam’s genetics will only be conferred to her few offspring, but the herd sire will contribute 50% of his genetic profile to the next generation - characteristics he can pass to his daughters that will help make the improvements you’d like to see in your flock. The dude’s a big deal!
Improved maternal instincts - Good breeders will be able to tell you about the maternal instincts of their animals, and those of the sire’s dam.
Improved milk production
Increased twinning - This is heavily impacted by management, as good nutrition, seasonality, and low stress levels will increase a ewe’s chances of ovulating more than one egg. But as we just went over, genetics do still play a role and a ram whose dam consistently twinned, can potentially confer that trait to his daughters3.
Changes in body structure/size
Do you want to increase the average body size of your flock/herd?
Or would decreasing body size be of benefit? There are pros and cons to both sides of that coin, and you’ll have to decide what is best for your situation. Larger dams are at less risk of dystocia (birthing complications) with large lambs, but are more expensive to feed and maintain. Smaller dams can be at higher risk of dystocia (though this can be selected against), but are more feed efficient. I tend to select for a slightly smaller than average ewe, with high milk yield and consistent twinning without assistance.
Structural considerations - This has been an extremely vital component to the improvement of our own swine herd. The structural challenge for pigs on our steep, rocky property is hoof and leg integrity. With judicious selection for agile pigs with resilient hoof walls and substantial bone structure, we’ve been able to minimize our dealings with lameness in our breeding sows.
Ease of labor - Independent parturition (labor) is a Godsend. While you still may need to deliver a lamb from time to time, it’s a blessing to be able to entrust that duty to good mamas who don’t need your help. I’ve seen some nightmarish scenes involving pick-up trucks & broken cows’ pelvises, and known of too many C-sections gone wrong after first calf heifers were bred to monster bulls. Selecting a sire whose size is appropriate to that of your dams plays a significant role in decreasing the likelihood of having overly large progeny that require pulling, or surgical extraction.
Now, that should make for a pretty solid start on a set of goals for your herd or flock. How’s your list look?
Will your current dam population help you achieve your list of goals and optimize your production? Are you ready to find a herd sire - the other half of this equation?
I hope you feel like you’ve got a good handle on where you’d like to go with your breeding program. But this outline is far from exhaustive, so I hope you’ve added any priorities you’ve come up with, as well.
Next time we’ll get into the hands-on, nitty gritty of individual herd sire selection and evaluation, where we can make some major progress on bringing that list to fruition. My stinky, handsome ram, “Oxford”, will be my marginally willing assistant.
Hope to see you then!
Cheers friends,
Dr. B
“Selecting the Right Ram with Estimated Progeny Differences”, OMAFRA, Ontario. 2016. http://omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/sheep/facts/select.htm
Andrew McKay, 1976, ‘Twinning in sheep’, In: Surprise and Enterprise ‘ Fifty Years of Science for Australia, White F, Kimpton D (eds), CSIRO Publishing, pp.36-37.
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