Sheep Tupping Records.

Tupping records are part of the breeding records for your sheep, so they do not form part of any offical records or official reports. It is also possible to record lambing records without having tupping records but tupping records are very useful for the folling reasons...

1. Number of Ewes Tupped

if you create tupping records we know and can count the number of ewes put to the tup in a season. which of course means we can use this figure of the start of lambing statistics and performance.

2. Predicting Lambing Dates

The tupping date is used to predict lambing dates base on the gestation for sheep 147 days. You can specify a different gestation by changing the setting in farm details.

3. Ram Identification

Tupping records are used to identify the sire at lambing by looking up which individual RAM was used. If you are specifying individual rams!, the ram can be automatically assigned at lambing time as the father of the lambs without the need to re3ference marks on the ewe. A sire is selected that matches the lambing date and gestation.

4. Ram Fertility Statistics

If you are specifying specific rams in tupping record we can use these records to analyse RAM fertility, by comparing tupping records to scanning or lambing

5. Analysing Ewe Condition

The tupping date is also used when analysing EWE body condition score and lambing / ewe efficency.

Date the Ram Goes in - Or the Actual Service Date

The tupping record is normally recorded as the date the tup was put in the field with the ewes, as we do not need you to sit there watching and record the actual event. If you do however do this then there is no reason the date can not represent the actual event. For AI or embryo the date IS the actuall event. i,e the date of the AI. For details see AI and Embryo Implantation.

Single Sire

For those of you who are single siring ( one ram in the field at a time ) you may enter multiple tupping records for different rams. Tupping records are recorded with a Ram's tag number (uk) and will be linked to that ram if he exists in the system. At lambing you may choose to see the list of rams used during the recording of lambing record, you may then confirm the choice of the ram. You may also choose NOT to see the list of rams and system will work out the sire based on the tupping records, the lambing date and the gestation period. Lambing analysis also displays this information.

A ewe may therefore have 2 or 3 or more 'tupping' records in a season. From a count point of view she will only be counted once. Tupping record include AI and embryo implantation and a follow up or chaser ram.

Of course the difficulty with single siring is that the Lambing period may end up extend.

Sire Groups or Mobs

If you do not single sire, it is still worth entering a tupping record for the purpose of counting ewes and assesing ewe fertility. You do not need to enter the tags of the rams but can simply refer to them as a group or even a breed, for example 'TEXEL', 'GROUP1' or 'TG1'

Creating tupping groups

Tupping records are created for each ewe, however we do not expect you to create these individual records manually. Tupping records are normally generated from a 'list' i.e management group of ewes. This list may be created by manual construction of the group on the computer or physical selection outside and recording the groups, either by weighing or tag reading. On the computer you may use the 'Tup Allocation Wizard' see the breeding menu, to compare breeding and allocate tups accordingly. You may then create management groups of the ewes and use these groups to split the ewes physically outside.