Infertile Ram

brownswiss

We bought a Pedigree Texel ram to run with our best ewes in order to produce replacements. He had all the ewes tipped within about 2 weeks and all have repeated. We have now put them with our Charollais ram as we do not have another breed. We operate a closed flock other than buying in some rams so we will not have any replacement ewe lambs next year.

The ram has been perfectly healthy since we bought him. The vet did a fertility test on him today and has deemed him infertile.

What is the normal / fair way of dealing with this issue.? Is it a common occurrence or are most breeders doing a pre sale fertility test ?

Thanks

wrangler

brownswiss wrote: »

We bought a Pedigree Texel ram to run with our best ewes in order to produce replacements. He had all the ewes tipped within about 2 weeks and all have repeated. We have now put them with our Charollais ram as we do not have another breed. We operate a closed flock other than buying in some rams so we will not have any replacement ewe lambs next year.

The ram has been perfectly healthy since we bought him. The vet did a fertility test on him today and has deemed him infertile.

What is the normal / fair way of dealing with this issue.? Is it a common occurrence or are most breeders doing a pre sale fertility test ?

Thanks

You're entitled to your money back, it's not usual to test rams before sale, very few prove infertile, I'm sure the breeder will have no problem iwth a refund

brownswiss

wrangler wrote: »

You're entitled to your money back, it's not usual to test rams before sale, very few prove infertile, I'm sure the breeder will have no problem iwth a refund

Thanks for the feedback

razor8

brownswiss wrote: »

We bought a Pedigree Texel ram to run with our best ewes in order to produce replacements. He had all the ewes tipped within about 2 weeks and all have repeated. We have now put them with our Charollais ram as we do not have another breed. We operate a closed flock other than buying in some rams so we will not have any replacement ewe lambs next year.

The ram has been perfectly healthy since we bought him. The vet did a fertility test on him today and has deemed him infertile.

What is the normal / fair way of dealing with this issue.? Is it a common occurrence or are most breeders doing a pre sale fertility test ?

Thanks

Was he bought privately or at a sale?

brownswiss

razor8 wrote: »

Was he bought privately or at a sale?

.

Privately from a reputable breeder . Not expecting any hassle as regards a refund and just posted in the hopes of getting feedback from pedigree breeders or people who have had the misfortune of buying an infertile ram.

We also sell a few pedigree rams every year without fertility testing unless the ram was sick. I am now wondering should we test all rams for sale . I know they can still become temporarily infertile but at least you had not the worry of someone coming back when it was too late to rectify the situation.

Oldira

I bought a Belclare ram from a registered breeder as my first ram when getting into sheep. Totally infertile. By the time I realised it was gone too late in year to get a replacement. Breeder totally fobbed me off. No refund, no replacement. His reaction was 'get you own fertility test done' and 'try him next year. I had illness in family that year so was not up to a fight. But I was seriously disappointed with the attitude.
As it turned out I broke an arm just before what would have been lambing time so maybe I was lucky.

brownswiss

We were fortunate that the raddle did it's job and the infertility showed up early. As soon as 2 ewes repeated we replaced the ram and had him fertility tested. Once we got confirmation of the infertility we contacted the breeder. They have given us a temporary replacement and we will have the " pick " of their rams next year. Lambing will drag on a couple of weeks extra and we will not have any March ewe lambs to put with the ram next season but it could have been worse.

Do any of you fertility test all of your rams before the start of mating >

brownswiss

Re the infertile ram. The Roscommon breeder promised us the pick of this year's ram lambs. We made a couple of attempts to arrange a viewing. Eventually got a viewing this afternoon only to be told on arrival that three of the rams were sold just before our arrival. What was left were not worth bringing home... We are a lot out of pocket due to late lambing and extended feeding. To be treated like we were today was very disappointing.

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117763477#Comment_117763477

did you fertility test him later in the season, ram lambs can be infertile due to overfeeding too and come fertile later in the year or following year. so if you've still got him he'd be worth testing again

It looks like this breeder isn't going to do anything for you

brownswiss

He went back as soon as we got him fertility tested. They kept my money on the promise of first choice of this year's lambs. Today we got back what we paid for him last year. and came home without a ram.

Tileman

Did u drop back the ram and get your money back or did u keep the ram and get ure money back. ?

brownswiss

Dropped back the ram as soon as fertility test was done. Was not offered refund at the time but was offered " The pick of the next year's ram lambs " plus the loan of a ram for remainder of that season . I thought that any reputable breeder would honour such an agreement

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117764319#Comment_117764319

If you're depending on only one ram with a bunch of ewes, it's a good idea to get him tested. our vet charges €50, cheap compared with the cost of the ram delaying your mating

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117763477#Comment_117763477

Was he right on the Galway border?

brownswiss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117767843#Comment_117767843

No

brownswiss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117765160#Comment_117765160

I agree. We only had the Texel ram ( The infertile ram )with that bunch. We picked out the ewes we wanted to keep replacements from. We ran 2 other bunches , each with a charollais. We single sire mate to know what each ram is producing. It has it's drawbacks if a ram proves infertile.

22meehoovereinenschaft22

Maybe the bitches (or whatever you call female sheep) aren't hot enough??

Richie_Rich89

Hoes, is it?

Oh no, wait. Ewes. That's what they're called.