[Jacob-list] horny question :o)

[Linda]

I have two adult ewes that have never broken horns.  Another two that were born 
with four strong horns (never had those little wobbly laterals) but one had a 
tip broken by the long departed goat and another lost horns when I closed a 
gate on her head. My ewe lambs this year have strong horns, so far.  A couple 
were born with wobblies that broke early on and were replaced with quite strong 
horns.  One particularly strong horned ewe lamb has pretty flat horns.  If I 
don't slam her head in a gate, I can't see her losing any of those. 
 
My three year old ram went to the butcher with all horns intact, although he 
did not leave much of his paddock intact!  My current rams include a yearling 
who lost a lateral to the aforementioned goat just prior to her departure and a 
wonderful weaning ram that broke a top horn.  

Feeding practices seem figure predominately in horn breakage (just my very 
humble opinion).

Linda
 

 
 
Visit our flock of Jacob Sheep www.patchworkfibers.comwww.patchworkfibers.com


On Wed, 22 Aug 2001 12:00:36 -0400, Mary Hansson wrote:
>Hi everybody.
>
>I have been advised by several breeders to not just lurk as well as to throw
>this particular question to engender some thought-provoking discussion:
>
>How many of us have had 4-horned animals NEVER break off their horns?  The
>typical 4-horned rams and ewes that I have noticed rarely have all 4 horns
>that have not been broken at some point.  Royal Unzicker was here this
>morning gasping over Amita and her head.  She has probably just broken 1 of
>the 4 early on in her life.  I know of another ewe out of Kathryn
>Stokey-Dillon's flock that did not break a horn.  I don't know of others,
>but I am sure they exist.
>
>I happened to have a ram lamb born this spring here (bred at another farm)
>that is 4-horned and at birth, there was NO ROOM for more horn up on the
>head.  Each of the 4 horns were like a 2-horned ram lamb......COOL, said I.
>FREEZER MEAT, said I.  In the intervening months, the little guy has
>fascinated me more and more.  Those horns are large!  They have never
>chipped, cracked, etc.  Every other 4-horned animal here has had something
>get knocked around.  Would the horns on this ram be something that would
>increase the overall diameter of the horns on offspring as compared to their
>dam lines?  I wonder.......
>
>QUESTION:  Are we breeding progressively smaller-horned and weaker-horned
>rams and ewes when we are eliminating from the gene pool rams with horns so
>large that they touch on 4-6 month old rams?
>
>I know that Edd has talked about wanting a finger of space between horns
>when ram lambs are born, and you basically have to have this sort of space
>for the horns to be separated when the animal is an adult.  That does
>promote the "picture perfect Jacob ram" image.
>
>When 4-horned ram lambs are born with all 4 horns the size that you see on
>2-horned ram lambs.........what does one do?  Breed for bigger heads to
>support these very large and more massive horns so they won't touch?  This
>would most likely lead to birthing difficulties.  Cull for smaller horn
>bases on 4-horned rams?
>
>Who has used rams with such large horns, and what did you see in the
>offspring?  If you don't feel comfortable writing that to the list, please
>feel free to e-mail me privately at iseespots1nc at earthlink.net as I have
>been ruminating over these basic issues now for several months.
>
>Mary Ellen
>ISeeSpots Farm www.iseespots.com
>Home of Jacob Sheep
>Renewable fleeces, loving friends.
>
>
>
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>


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