Why do rams have such big balls

When it comes to stud rams in the sheep breeding game, size really does matter. Scrotum size that is. Each ram sold at the GRASS stud's annual sale this month was expected to service up to 50 ewes in a four-week breeding period.

According to the stud's founder, agricultural scientist Graham Peart, any rams that do not measure up are culled. Scrotum size is one of dozens of physical traits that have been measured at the GRASS stud for the past 40 years. It all started in after a dramatic collapse in the wool industry, when Mr Peart convinced nine other farmers to pool their combined 35, ewes and measure them for traits such as fleece weight, fibre diameter and fertility. The best 2 per cent were kept in a nucleus flock, which has become one of the most measured in Australia.

GRASS is also a play on words because the sheep had to be fed on grass, not grain. Mr Peart said the group wanted sheep that performed in the paddock, not the show ring — where stud rams were often fattened up to look good, but failed to perform where it counted. What's an extra kilogram of meat worth? What's an extra lamb worth? And that all goes in the computer and that tells you where to place your emphasis.

The GRASS stud also recently produced the top wool cutting ram in the national Merino Select computer program and its rams outperformed 14 other studs in a trial conducted by the Trangie research station in NSW. The rams were joined with standard ewes to produce 50 lambs each to be measured for meat and wool.

In more recent years high prices for sheep meat have seen the merino industry move towards breeding a dual-purpose animal — adding meat traits such as growth rate and intramuscular fat to their wool growing capacity. Consequently bulls with large testicles can achieve higher conception rates than bulls with small testicles. Male kids and lambs should have testicles in the scrotum at birth. If one or both testicles are undescended, the male is referred to as a cryptorchid. Puberty occurs in the ram between months but they are not considered mature and effective until months.

Another Rodeo Goat specialty is a dessert called " Goat Balls ," which thankfully are not animal parts but actually fried balls of brie served with blackberry compote. On the bar side of things, expect plenty of local craft beer on tap and a solid selection of whiskey and cocktails. Testicular swelling occurs in male dogs with no preference to any specific breed.

Epididymitis is most often found in adult-aged dogs. While there are several possible causes associated with testicular swelling, the most common cause for testicular swelling is trauma from an injury to the scrotal area. Why do rats have huge balls? The first sight of a male rat can be a shock to the uninitiated. The gland usually can be extended by pressing down around the external preputial orifice and grasping the protruding gland with a gauze pad Figure Occasionally the sigmoid flexure may need to be straightened to assist in extending the gland.

The gland is then carefully inspected for evidence of active lesions or old scars. The gland can be held in extension by wrapping a strip of gauze around the junction between the free portion of the gland and the prepuce. This method also is helpful in collecting perm by electro stimulstion. The gland generally is easier to extend when the animal is being held up on the rump than when it is in lateral recumbency. Care must be taken with breeds that have heavy scrotal wool, because wool may falsely enlarge the measured circumference.

Taking the average of several measurements can increase the accuracy of the SC value obtained. The tape should be snug on the scrotum, while barely indenting the skin so that the tape does not slide out of position Figure SC in the ram is highly heritable and appears to be related to sperm output and age at puberty. For the selection of ram lambs, the testicular diameter at days provides a long-range prediction of post-pubertal testicular size and sperm output.

SC is a major criterion for selecting replacement rams. Scrotal size usually is greatest from August to October. Smaller testicular measurements 0. Sperm production in rams takes 49 days. You must ensure rams are well looked after during the week period leading up to joining, to avoid factors that could adversely affect the sperm and lead to temporary infertility.

Checking the tail of the epididymis can give you a useful guide to the level of sperm reserves in rams. A large, firm but not hard and diseased epididymis is an indication of good reserves, while a small, soft tail indicates the opposite. Ball size is a good indication of the sperm-producing ability of individual rams. Sperm are produced by testicular tissue at a reasonably constant rate of about 20 million sperm per gram of ball per day. For normal sperm production to occur, the balls need to be kept cool.

Blood flow to the testes also helps to regulate temperature through a heat exchange mechanism. Hot weather, such as long periods of temperatures over 32 degrees Celsius, or short spells of very high temperatures 38 degrees Celsius or higher , affects the production of viable sperm. Rams that are heat stressed before joining could still successfully serve ewes up until the sperm stored before the heating is used about weeks , but it will then take 7 weeks to produce new viable sperm.

As a General Rule Sheep farmers derive their income from the sales of lambs and wool and related products. The Average Fleece was 7. When raising a lamb, there is little grooming. We do not require daily bathing and blowing, as a show steer does, nor do we have Skip to content. Continue Reading. Blackhead Persian.