Controlled Breeding the Graphic stuff

Be warned, there are some graphic medical type pictures in this post.



Kim and I are into the third week of our controlled breeding program. Being the third time around we are learning quickly, first lesson learnt Leroy the Ram has to be locked up. Last week when he was removed from the ewes after his five day orgy he was not happy! Leroy managed to jump out of the yards several times trying to get back to his girls. We really thought he was going to hurt himself.


Here is Leroy locked up for his own safety and ours. Don’t worry he was only locked up for a short time.

Saturday morning Kim mustered up the ewes, selected the next group to commence the program and brought the ewes from last week (that are almost ready to be with Leroy) to the yards. First, last week’s ewes need the CIDR’s removed and an injection of hormones is given to bring them into season together and ready for Leroy.

Firstly Kim checks the ear tag numbers to ensure he has the correct girls to have their CIDRs removed. When breeding stud sheep good records are vital and even more important to have meticulous records in a controlled breeding program.

The ewes that need to have the CIDR's removed and the hormone injection are first. These lovely looking ewes will need to wait.

Kim removing the CIDR from the ewe. You can see a small plastic tag hanging from the ewe.

Me preparing the hormone injection and Kim patiently waiting!

Kim injects the ewe in the muscle at the base of the neck.

The ewes are then sprayed with paint on the head so she is easy to pick out on Monday when she ready to be with Leroy for five days.

Now it is time for the second group of ewes to have the CIDR’s inserted. Here I am preparing the CIDR for insertion. You need to cut off the small plastic ball on the end of the removal tail. We do this just in case the sheep scratches their behind and the ball can get caught on a twig or something and be pulled out.

CIDR in placed in a special applicator.

lubricant is applied to the tip of the CIDR

Kim has to clean the backend of the ewe with an antiseptic swab to ensure there is no chance of infection.

Inserting the CIDR

Head sprayed then out you go. We always check the ear tags of the sheep before anything is done to them. The spray just makes it easier to see which sheep is which when drafting the sheep through the race.