[Jacob-list] White ram lamb?

[Neal and Louise Grose]

I am assuming that these lambs are from registered or otherwise confirmed purebred stock. Jacob sheep  are typically from about 15% colored to 15% white. It is likely that a purebred all white lamb is essentially all spot. (Genetically, the white is the spot, I like to speak of the black as "markings".) The black lamb is harder to justify for the simple reason that it becomes hard to distinguish a 95% black Jacob from a crossbred. One thing that you should keep in mind is that when you say "an almost entirely black lamb", that you keep in mind the whole sheep. Most inspectors (I think) look at the color that you would see if you were looking at a whole lamb skin, including the belly and down a way on the legs. The results that you have seen can come about when dramatic out-crosses of bloodlines are made. This was more common early on when people first started exchanging sheep and were looking for "new genetics". 

There is no guarantee that a particular cut-off determines what is genetically "pure" Jacob. What we pay the most credence to is what can build a good "case history" for Jacob or not-Jacob. The breed standards were put into use when there was little else to use as a reference. A lamb that is 80% black is just as Jacob as one that is 60% white. That said, those 60/40 animals sell better than the odd-ball sheep. Mating a ram that is 2/3 black to a ewe that is 2/3 black will yield lambs that are too black for the Breed Standard more often than a mating that matings of parents that are more evenly colored. As a long time Holstein and Jacob breeder, I can tell you that you will get things that you don't expect more than you might expect. It is only when you look at large numbers of animals that the laws of averages start to average out.

It is tempting to get excited about the possibility of DNA testing to determine "purebred". For some insight into this, I would like to refer you to an article in the May 2003 issue of Discover magazine on DNA testing of the Melungeon people* of the Southern Appalachians. The short answer is that results from DNA testing are likely to be interesting,confusing and indeterminate. 

So. We come back to Breed Association beauty contests. If we are to be honest about it, authentic Jacob sheep can have terrible horns and bad coloring. This is not the point. These things are simply the most obvious traits to observe. Particularly when inspectors are looking at a few pictures, it can be hard to judge many of the things that we who own the sheep and have our hands on them every day observe. These superficial characteristics [just because it is superficial doesn't mean it is not important] distinguish Jacob sheep from other primitive breeds. They are NOT more important than traits such as resistance to parasitosis, flat and dense bone, body type, and sloping rumps; they are just the things that are first presented to the public. If you want an all black sheep, then get a Corriedale. If you want a magnificent set of horns, then get a Rambouillet. Jacob sheep are a messy and confusing breed. That is OK, and if we are honest, the quibbles that we have between us are just that...quibbles. If we do not register our sheep, then when we croak, our children will simply haul these critters down to the livestock market.

Neal Grose

*When English setlers reached the mountains near here in th mid-1700s, they found a group of people with "Turkish" features who spoke Elizabethan English. Life is messy. Gotta love it.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Marilyn Wallace 
  To: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com 
  Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 12:20 AM
  Subject: [Jacob-list] White ram lamb?


  A ewe had twins this last month, one is an almost entirely black ewe lamb, and the other is a  completely white ram lamb. I am new to the Jacob sheep and have read that the coloring should be 60% white and 40% black. However, I wondered if the all white lamb is common or special ? Thanks for the info.
  mwallace at osprey.net


  Check out our personal websites
  www.heritagehillranch.homestead.com
  www.marykay.com/mwallace1
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