[Jacob-list] Beginnings

[Wayne & Edie Van Valkenburg]

Just though I would put in our findings about the appearance of the the
early Jacob in this country from what we saw in 1982. The first time we
saw a  Jacob sheep was at the Maryland
Sheep in Wool Festival when Suzanna Davies brought a few to exhibit.  We
fell in love with them and then began our quest.
We visited Maizie's flock, Jacque Lasseau, and Fieldwood.  We first
visited Jacque's  right after the first fire And the beginning of the
new barn. Such a tragedy. As for his flock he had a very different
theory for raising sheep.
He raised them with the theory of bio-mass,  the French way. From him we
saw his spinning yarn and weaving, also he shared with us what a
delicacy the Jacob lamb was in France.  In the better restaurants that
is the only lamb they would serve. The size of his Jacob were smaller
and appeared to have more black which appeared to me to be more a brown
than black. They all had the basic Jacob markings including the legs .
He had just purchased a 4-horn ram from Maizie and was pleased to show
him off.

On to Maizie's,   what a glorious sight.  The ewes were out in the
pasture but she had 16 rams all in an area together.  They were larger,
more with white legs and various horn structures.  We have a picture of
them.  She had a very nice room set up with the Jacob fleeces , and many
knitted garments. It was a sight to behold.
We ended our foray at the Fieldwood farm.  Such a beautiful place to
raise Jacob.  They had pasture in the shade and we saw Isaac and
Rebecca, their first.  Absolutely beautiful.  Both Maize's and Suzanna's
seemed to be more of a black than brown on the tip.
Subsequently, we were able to purchase 4-horn wether with the beginning
of a split. Nothing else was available at that time.  He was beautiful,
loved and we  promoted the Jacob everywhere we went.  The next year we
purchased some from here in N.J. the originals came from the Chicago Zoo
and were just as beautiful and met the criteria we had seen on our
trip.  We gratefully were able to lease Isaac from the Fieldwood Farm
and we had a ewe from them that was British Registered.  We were on our
way.
The next year we trekked to Maizie' and purchased a ram from her.  That
was the background of our flock.  Plus a ewe out of Fieldwood Albert.
We have line bred to keep the flock as close to the original as possible
with 4 lines of ewes that can trace their ancestry back to the original
importation. They are the "S" , "J", "B", and "H" lines.
Although occasionally we have gone out for a ram, they have all traced
their lines to Lassau and Fieldwood and Hescock's. It is interesting to
observe the diversity, when you seek to preserve and conserve the breed.

Wayne & Edie , Joy Farm