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This is a real newbie question that will have many of you rolling your eyes or maybe even rolling on the floor with laughter.

 

I have been spending a great deal of time studying sheep breeds, and something keeps occurring to me when I look at pictures of rams - especially shorn rams.

 

That is, are not their testicles really prone to injury? They are extremely large and pendulous. It would seem to put them at risk for all sorts of damage from being scratched by thorns, matted with burrs or just knocked about and bruised. Is this so? :unsure::(

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Certainly they can get injured. This is something we look at before breeding to ensure the testes are even, of good size and there are no absesses etc.

 

They don't spend their time running that much so injury from that is unlikely. Thorns etc could be a problem. Burrs don't usually get caught down there, more so on the top of the fleece. Rams with wool on their testicles will have it shorn (usually). Rams are usually checked at least twice a year at shearing and before introducing to the girls.

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Not in my experience. It could happen, though, and if you keep a ram you should check him occasionally, but they can actually pull the testicles fairly high up, so even if the bag is snagged by something, the testicles don't necessarily get damaged. BTW, bigger is better when it comes to ram testicles! ;)

 

J.

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Larger testicles = higher sperm count = better chance of your sperm fertilizing the egg than the ram with smaller testicles. Strong selective pressures on reproduction often result in males with what might at first appear to be a major handicap.

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Larger testicles = higher sperm count = better chance of your sperm fertilizing the egg than the ram with smaller testicles. Strong selective pressures on reproduction often result in males with what might at first appear to be a major handicap.

 

 

Hi Liz

 

Nothing better then a textbook explaination :D:P:D

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