inbreeding

[Smithy]

Does anyone know if you can use a half sibling ram without running into problems?

I have a Texel x Finn ram lamb that I would like to use on my Texel x Finn ewe lambs this year. The Texel part is unrelated. The ram was a triplet with all ram siblings so no full siblings in the ewes. I don't usually keep my own rams but this guy is really exceptional.

[woolpuller]

I have used my own rams back for years, no problem. The highest inbreeding has been 12%
I wouldn't worry about it. If you get bad lambs, deformed lambs than you need a new ram strain.

[Smithy]

Thanks for the reply. How do you calculate that percentage? I am breeding the ram to his own half siblings so would that be 50%?

[woolpuller]

Smitty, I use a program called Ewebyte that does it for me. Great program