[Jacob-list] Registrations & Philosophies

[shepherd]

Fred and all,

The issue of "what is right and what is wrong", how to handle knowledge that
is not pleasant, disclosure ethics, breeder need-to-know issues.  You
managed to hit them all squarely on the head.

I spent a rather lengthy time on the phone with a breeder yesterday in
discussion regarding many of these issues as relating to split eyelids, jaw
deformities, horn anomalies, color patterning woes....you name it, we
discussed it.  We both concluded we wished the information was published
that was included on registry applications as we could make much better
informed breeding/culling/purchase decisions.

As a new breeder, I went out and thought that whatever I would buy would
produce picture-perfect, defect-free animals.  I was lucky by some standards
that I found that to not be based on any fact.  These are NOT defect-free
animals in their genetic strings from either a picture standpoint for
markings or breed conformation.

I have looked split eyelid in the eye on the most "to die for" ewe lambs and
know they must be eaten.  I have seen hornless wonders and written about
them publicly as my personal philosophy is that without talking about the
problems, we cannot lessen their occurance and understand them better.  I am
also looking at 4 and maybe 5 lambs out of 6 in a particular breeding
configuration that have a known genetic defect.  Three years ago, I culled
an entire line of 6 animals from my property and requested the revocation of
a particular animal's registry papers from both Jacob breed organizations in
this country (this procedure is not possible in either organization then or
today).

We look for many traits in our sheep.  First and foremost, we need to be
looking for breed SOUNDNESS, and when genetic flaws become known, we need to
learn how to combat those problems head-on.  Is there a test to determine if
a particular animal is carrying the trait (if they carry it and are bred a
couple times, you can do the math on the odds yourself and realize it
becomes more and more likely that you will see the results)?

Burying our heads in the sand and saying that the sheep with the problems
are owned by people with poor quality livestock/health is the fastest road
to disaster.  It is extremely hard to ask the question.

I fall on the end of the answer spectrum, though, by saying that the breed
organizations should provide information and the BREEDER is responsible for
taking that information and doing with it what he/she feels is best for the
breed and their personal situation.

Mary Ellen
ISeeSpots Farm www.iseespots.com
Home of Jacob Sheep, Shetland Sheep,
and German Angora Rabbits, colored German Angora crosses.
Renewable fleeces, loving personalities, friends.
----- Original Message -----
From: <Jacobflock at aol.com>
To: <spahrfarm at dragonbbs.com>; <jacob-list at jacobsheep.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2000 10:55 PM
Subject: [Jacob-list] Registrations & Philosophies


> Fred Horak here and I should be taking the March JSC Journal to the
printer
> but the discussion on registration hits Joan and me pretty hard.
>
> Mary Spahr's comment that we each have different approaches to breeding
our
> sheep....if your personal goals are to conserve...then.
>
> Herein lies my personal conundrum with registration, in the context of
> conserving a rare breed, numerically impaired at its foundation, and the
> future of several rare breeds including the Jacob.
>
> First, a registration PAPER appears on its surface to be a "gold seal of
> purity" (a) this sheep meets the breed standard but does not address the
> question of its genetic content. (b) it says that subsequent generations
will
> meet the breed standard.  Case fact: two registered sheep that threw
horned
> rams and polled ewes, second generation sheep that failed to meet the
breed
> standard from non-related registered Jacobs.
>
> Second, registration PAPER does not address breeder motive: financial
> (registered sheep sell at a premium), personal (does type preference breed
> out certain breed traits), and even conservator motives (what is being
> conserved?).
>
> Third, a registration PAPER is the first thing a purchaser is handed, not
the
> pedigree, not a list of all progeny.  As a conservator I am often
frustrated
> by the naivete of purchasers who place so much confidence in the
registration
> PAPER.
>
> Finally, too few breed orgainzations have been able to address the
question
> of identifying and purging registered animals for questionable progeny and
> genetic problems.  So few breeders talk about progeny problems, inbreeding
> depression or getting information out to educate breeders and reduce
problems.
>
> Case in point on a very personal level: in conjunction with a vet school,
we
> are repeating an experiment and have bred five ewes (all registered
Jacobs)
> expecting to produce Jacobs that will die in 12-24 months.  If successful
we
> will have identified a disease, a carrier line and, perhaps, a test to
reduce
> its occurence.  If the carrier line is identified, what do we do?  Do we
> "unregister" sheep? Do we tell others?  This is not the first occurance of
> this problem...why hasn't it been addressed before?  The final verdict for
> this experiment is not in yet.  But what does the conservator do about the
> PAPER...the ram and ewes who produce a lethal defect...their parent sire
and
> dam lines?
>
> It is scientifically clear and evident that no breed registry (including
> Jacobs) can guarantee "purity" (with a 95% confidence level) unless the
same
> breeding is repeated seven times and all progeny from this same 7 time
> repeated breeding meets the breed standard.  Further, all the offspring
from
> the 7 breedings must breed true for seven breedings.  One failure means a
> recessive gene is in the pool; a to quote a recent note from a breeder " a
> bummer gets boinked behind the barn".
>
> I am not against registration despite its inherent flaws because behind
the
> PAPER is a record of the family tree.  The conservator breeder registers
> animals to create the ree and branches.  When the conservator registers
> animals there is an assumed fiduciary responsibility to the breed and
other
> breeders; there is an accurate record of all breedings and all progeny.
>
> There is an ethics question involved with registration and philosophy that
> Joan and I are facing and would like the insights of other conservators.
> What is the value of the PAPER, is there a fiduciary responsibility or
have
> we assumed something that does not exist, what if the experiment proves
true
> and should the information be shared, if so, how?  What of the family
trees
> involved?
> Fred Horak
>
>
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