 Age at mating : Most ewe lambs reach puberty between 8 to

12 months of age.
 Sheep normally attain good growth at about 24 months (range
18-36) of age.
 It is desirable to use rams for mating from the age of 2 years till
the age of 7 years.

 Mating season and estrus cycle : Indigenous breeds usually

breed during nutritionally better time of the year, i.e. July to
Oct., or immediately after the onset of monsoon (major
breeding season). A small percentage of them also breed during
March- April ( minor breeding season).
 Normal heat period- 18 to 48 hrs ( av. 30 hrs)
 Ovulation occurs 24 to 30 hrs after onset of
estrous
 Conception is more likely when breeding occurs
late in the heat period
 Normal estrous cycle- 16 to 19 days ( av. 17 days)
 Length of pregnancy av.147 days (ranges
between 144 & 152 days)
 Ewes comes in heat – 2 months after lambing
 Age at mating : Does may be mated at 12-15 months age so
that they kid at the age of 17-20 months.
 Bucks of 18-24 months of age may be used to serve 25-30
does; and when they attain full maturity at the age of 2-
2½ years, may be allowed to serve 50-60 does in a breeding
season.
 Mating season and estrus cycle : The does are more or less
continuous breeders. Most does come in heat in September
and March.
 Normal heat period- 12 to 36 hrs
 The best time of mating/insemination is 10-12 hours
after the onset of heat
 Normal estrous cycle - 18 to 24 days ( av. 21 days)
 Does comes in heat – 2 months after kidding
 Length of pregnancy av.150 days (145 to 152 days)
 The normal breeding season is Sept to Oct, Feb to
March and May to June.
 Flushing-

 Feeding of extra concentrate to

ewes prior to onset breeding
season, normally 3-4 weeks before
breeding.
 Increases ovulation rate of ewes
 Can be done by supplementing 250
to 500 g of grains/ legume hay per
day per head.
 Flushing increases lambing rate by
10 to 20 %.
 This refers shearing the locks of wool and dirt from the
dock.
 Ewes sometimes are not bred because wool or tags
prevent the ram from making satisfactory copulation, thus
tagging makes service by the ram more certain.
 The ram is also trimmed around the sheath.
 To prevent wool blindness in some breeds the excess
wool around the eyes should be clipped away regularly.
This process is referred as eyeing.
 Wool be clipped from neck to the belly particularly at the
region of penis. This process is referred to as ringing.
 The process makes it easier for the ram to have proper
mating
 Removal of wool around the perennial region and
base of the tail of an ewe is known as crutching. This
facilitates better mating.
 This refers shearing the lock of wool and dirt from the
dock.
 For the sake of identification of ewes which has been bred by the
rams, it is essential that the ram are painted on
their chest, which at the same time of mating will mark the particular
ewe. For this either lamp black or venetian red is mixed up with
linseed oil to make a paste, which is then applied in the brisket area
at least once a week.
 When the ram mounts the ewe during the course of breeding, ewe
will be marked on the rump.
 Marked ewes are separated in flocks served by one ram, this
marking method can detect a sterile male easily because all ewes
are repeat breeders
 Marking of ewe by ram can also be done by raddle.
Raddle is nothing but a ram harness containing crayon,
which is rubbed on the ewe’s rump when mating takes
place, so that a colour mark is left.
 The process of allowing the ram to run along with raddle
is termed as raddling.
 The above practice can also be adopted in goats
 There are two systems of mating the ewe and some of
them are exclusively for experimental purposes while the
others are for commercial purpose.
 The systems of mating are

Natural Mating Artificial Mating

1. Flock system 1. Artificial Insemination
2. Pen system 2. Embryo transfer tech.
3. Hand service
 In this systems rams are usually let loose the ewes to serve at will
(day and night) during the mating season at the rate of 30-45
ewes per ram. This is most common practice followed by all
commercial flocks owners
 Drawback of system is that when the rams are allowed to run
with the ewe flock, the ewes are too much disturbed by the rams
pushing and fighting amongst themselves.
 To avoid this, smaller mating flock of 40-50 with a single ram are
best provided young rams are selected for mating aged ewes
while experienced rams for maiden ewes.
 In this system selected rams are allowed to have mating
at night only those ewes which are kept together to make
groups after their return in the evening for grazing land
and then the rams allotted are introduced with them.
 By this system rams are either grazed separately or are
stall fed.
 By this method the ewes in the estrus are first detected by
the vasectomised rams which are then picked up and kept
in the breeding pen and served by selected proven rams.

 The system is extremely useful for any experimental farm

but has got no value in commercial farms
 Artificial Insemination in sheep has played a significant
role in improving sheep within a short period of time in
Russia and in some European countries. One of the
reasons for the success of AI in these countries is the
large size of their sheep flocks.

 In India this technique, though taken up on an

experimental basis for some years, has not yet been
extended to the field on a large scale except in Rajasthan.
 AI in sheep can not be adopted so easily as in the case of cattle and
buffaloes in view of certain problems connected with dilution and
preservation of ram semen. The dilution factor of the ram semen is low
and its preservability is very poor. Diluted ram semen if not used within
6-8 hours, loses its fertility very rapidly.

 In spite of these difficulties, serious attempts should be made to try out

this technique in breeding of sheep in different parts of the country in
view of the large scale cross breeding programmes that have been
recommended for rapid increase in wool and mutton production.
 Using an intact male-
 An intact buck/ram is let into the flock. The buck/ram
follows the doe/ewe in estrous. However, there is a chance
the buck/ram mate the doe or ewe if it is not controlled
properly.
 Using an intact male fitted with aprons-
 In this case an apron is tied on the abdomen of the male to
cover the penis.
 The apron is made of small piece of cloth measuring 60 X
45 cm with strings on four sides to tie it properly. This
prevents mating.
 Disadvantages-
 Risk of fertile mating if the apron is not firmly fastened &
checked frequently.
 Irritation, inflammation & infection of penis & prepuce
area can occur, resulting in inhibited sexual desire &
mounting behavior.
 Estrous stimulation

 Estrous synchronization

 Ram effect