[Jacob-list] Link on ALBC's Web Page for Jacob Sheep

[Linda]

Nicely put! 
 
www.patchworkfibers.com
Registered Jacob Sheep, Angora Rabbits, Handspun Yarn

On Thu, 8 Jun 2006 12:49:12 -0700 (PDT), Robert May wrote:
> Hello Don...
>
> I wanted to let my friends at the ALBC know that Jacob Breeders
> (who subscribe to the Jacob List) have been having a lively
> discussion about a photo of a Jacob Sheep that appears on a link on
> the ALBC's Web page.
>
> The link takes one to the following site:
> http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/SHEEP/jacob/index.htm
>
> Going to that site, there is a picture (upper
> right-hand side) of a "beefed-up" 2-horn Jacob ram. The photo
> credit is to a woman from Great Britain.
>
> That site mentions the following:  The Jacob sheep is indeed a
> unique breed in America. Slight in build, with the narrow, lean
> carcass typical of some of the ancient British Breeds...The Jacob
> is an old,
> unimproved breed.   Asa a result, it is slight in build, with ewes
> averaging only about 100-120 lbs...."
>
> The Jacob ram pictured, doesn't even fit the
> definition they included, and the ram isn't typical of any
> (purebred) Jacob that I've seen here.
>
> The Jacob Breed Standard developed by the Jacob Sheep Breeders
> Association (JSBA) describes the conformation of a (North American)
> Jacob ram as:
>
> "Mature rams weigh between 120 and 180 lbs."..."Fine boned with
> straithg back." "Rams have short scrotoms holding testicals closer
> to the body than modern breeds."
>
> Don, the ram in that photo easily weighs over 200 lbs and his
> scrotom hangs below his hocks.  It's
> well-known that the Brits have crossed many of their Jacobs with
> Dorsets to get a larger animal--something that they may well have a
> right to do--and perhaps the only way they could keep some of their
> Jacob genetics going, but that ram is nothing close to either
> JSBA's breed standard, or something that I would want to have in my
> Jacob flock and it's not typical of the old-type Jacobs that we
> have worked so long and hard to preserve.
>
> I would appreciate it if that link could be redirected to JSBA's
> website:  http://www.jsba.org/standard.htm, where a complete breed
> description is provided.
>
> Have to admit that when I first saw that photo, I thought of a
> (North American) Jacob ram on steriods. With so many judges
> believing that "bigger" is always "better" (in their eyes, not
> mine), is just doesn't help our preservation efforts to imply that
> such a ram is "typical" of the breed.
>
> Don, please don't misinterpret this email.  We Jacob breeders
> greatly value the hard work and dedication of all of our friends at
> the ALBC--the same organization that was instrumental in seeing the
> formation of Jacob registries in this country, and we are eternally
> grateful.
>
> Please extend my best wishes to all of our friends at the ALBC.
>
> Kind regards,
> Bob May
> President
> JSBA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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