[Jacob-list] Primitive trait list

[Linda]

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


On Thu, 19 Jul 2001 23:31:51 -0400, Grose wrote:

>Jacob sheep have never been a completely primitive  breed.
 
I find that interesting and it raises a few questions for me.  We began this 
conversation with a post from Fred about what traits are thought to be 
"primitive."  It's been a fascinating and thought provoking topic.  But, I 
think that there are primitive traits that are not Jacob traits.  In this part 
of the country, we will run across a number of Barbados x Jacob crosses.  
Primitive, but not Jacobs.  I would be curious as to what primitive traits 
might be more specifically Jacob traits - and which primitive traits might not 
be Jacob traits.
 
 
For example, we all appreciate  large horns on
>rams, but support of larger horns is invariably at the expense of  having
>coarser boned sheep.
 
Massive horns are certainly impressive, but it does take a big headed boy to 
carry them with any decent spacing.  Groucho had huge horns and still had an 
inch between tops and laterals at three years old, but, yes, he was a heavy 
boned boy.  Seeing him standing next to the Yakob-Tson ram was like seeing two 
different breeds. 

>I guess our goal is to find a balance we can all  find mutually agreeable.
 
I think that anytime we (as a breed organization) focus on one trait or on an 
extreme, we will lose something of the Jacob diversity.  But, in my opinion, 
the strength of the breed organizations is that we can as individuals express 
our preferences in our flocks.  Neal can have his blaze faced Jacobs and I can 
have my panda faces!
 
Linda


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.pairlist.net/pipermail/jacob-list/attachments/20010720/a6fe1087/attachment.htm