# Two lambs in the same lambing - different fathers?



## sde219 (May 19, 2010)

So we bought our Navajo-Churro flock sire and released into our flock at the same time we were removing a Cotswold ram from the flock. Prior to buying the NC ram, we weren't sure we would have one for this year and didn't really care if the Cotswold did the job.

Our dairy ewe was in heat when the NC ram arrived and had definitely been mounted by the Cotswold a few times. The NC ram would continue to try to breed her for at least 24 hrs. Sure enough she's lambed at the expected time for that heat cycle. The two lambs are pretty similar but the differences in the coats/colors are stark. I'm still convince both are Churro crosses but....

It got me wondering can a ewe have two eggs fertilized by different sires? I'm guessing the answer is yes. Are multiple births the result of a splitting embryo or multiple eggs or both?


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Multiple births are from multiple eggs.
Otherwise they would be identical.

It may be possible for them to have different fathers, but I would doubt it.

I've had twins that didn't look anything alike , and didn't look like either the Dam or the Sire.

These are twins from an all black Dam and a Sire that's white with a black head:


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I want a brown spotted one!


----------



## VA Shepherd (Dec 26, 2010)

I believe the two fathers scenario is possible, but I think in this case that's not likely. I raise Black Cotswolds, and that color pattern is not a Cotswold trait. The only time my lambs get that pattern is when they're crossed with an East Friesian ram, and then I do get some white lambs and some black with the white blaze & socks. The same ram throws that pattern into Icelandic, too, it's definitely him; my BC ram never throws a white blaze even when he throws color.

This is the EF ram in question (Bruce):










And these are two of his offspring. The white one is pure EF, the black one if 50% EF, 25% Cotswold, 25% Babydoll. The Cotswold tends to manifest in fuzzy faces (exaggerated here by the Babydoll genes) and wool length & texture.










This is a pure BC ewe, and her two lambs by Bruce. This is a pretty standard lambing for this cross.










This is my BC ram, Beauregard:










And this is what came of his foray over the fence with an EF/Polypay/Rambouillet ewe. As you can see, she's pretty unusual! Most of the white swirls went away by the end of the first month, but her wool texture & length was Cotswold all the way.










Hope this helps! :bowtie:


----------



## Kasidy (Oct 20, 2002)

I would think it is *very* likely that the lambs have different fathers. For many years I ran 60 head of ewes---half white face (Columbias) and half black face (Suffolks). I used two rams--one of each breed. The first two weeks of breeding season I divided the sheep into two groups according to what I wanted out of each ewe. Then I put everyone in together for the rest of the season. When they lambed my ewes always produced a lot of multiples--many twins and triplets and always 3 or 4 set of quads. For the ewes who lambed after the first two weeks and had thus been exposed to both rams at the same time it was *unusual* for a "litter" of lambs to be sired by only one of the rams. And with the sheep I have it is very easy to tell who the sire is!
It makes sense that when a ewe comes into heat that both rams will breed her---and the lambs are NOT identical twins, they develop from separate eggs. In ewes that lambed after the two week cutoff and had multiples sired by only one ram I always wondered why the other guy had "missed out!"


----------



## farmmaid (Jan 13, 2003)

I tried an experiment two years ago with one of my purebred Nubian goat does. I could not decide what buck to breed her to so this is what I did. I put her in with our purebred Nubian buck the first 24 hours and then moved her in with our Boer buck for the remainder of her cycle. About 150 days later she had triplets. Two fathered by the Boer and one by the Nubian, no doubt about it! Very interesting to say the least, doing the same this fall.


----------

