[Jacob-list] Lilac vs greying

[Jacobflock at aol.com]

There do not seem to be a lot of lilacs out there and unfortunately we rarely 
get to see what another person is really talking about.  Semantics in a realm 
that is not well defined can be very difficult.  Basically I have found that 
the greyers keep the dark facial markings while greying to varing degrees.  
Sometimes there are spots that do not grey at all while on the same sheep 
other spots do.  I have recently seen a sheep that has greyed to a really 
lovely silver.   Lilacs on the other hand have a grey/brown or grey/blue 
color at the skin from birth and show the same color on the face, and most of 
the time on the legs (though this can be very dark). I have eprsonally always 
seen an eye ring,  but I have seen this on blacks too. I also saw a ram that 
LOOKS like a lilac but he is not, having bred him to lilacs he produced all 
black lambs.  He used to be black but has faded or greyed all over.  

In another post about the teardrop marking.  I have one like that this year,  
but there is no lilac known in the background.  When you are speaking of 
genetic things you really need MANY examples of the same thing to draw such a 
conclusion.  Otherwise it is just an observation that may hold true for an 
entirely different reason in a particular flock.

If greying did not appear to be so dominant in flocks it would be very 
pretty,  but I can see the day when no Jacobs stay black but all grey as do 
other breeds. I would hate to see that happen.

Joan Horak