[Jacob-list] Sheep ID

[Thomas Simmons]

Dear shepherds of the world (or at least Jacob breeders on the list) - 

I would like to pick your brains in identifying a ewe that i have.  She was obtained from a farm that received her as a donation from a biker who found her wandering in the woods... 

She is slightly taller and longer than most Jacobs, with a definite beefy-belly structure.  She is entirely greyish (mousy-brown-grey) except for two places:  a white blaze and poll, and her belly and legs are solid black (similar to the Shetland Katmoget marking).  There is a very distinct line of seperation between her black belly and the rest of her.  Her ears are tiny - maybe 1 inch long, and she is hornless.  Her "wool" only grows out to about 1  inch over the course of the season, and is a mix of coarse hair and down.  Some areas of her body have intermittent long hairs. She has no "wooly" area forward of her poll, or on her legs. She twins faithfully 2x a year, spring and fall.

I have seen her bred to a 100% black Jacob/Dorset cross, and her sons (two seperate breedings)were either 100% black or 100% white with four HUGE solid horns (black on the black son, white on the white son).  Their heads seem out of proportion (large) to their body.

When bred to a pure Jacob (two separate breedings), she produced scurred ewes (all scurs break off and re-grow, cycle after cycle). The ewes have Jacob-style spotting patterns of about 65% dark; Some black legs, some white legs; white blaze, large eye patches, no wool forward of poll, all slightly smaller than my pure jacobs. the fleeces are long and beautiful.

I have kept this ewe because she is my Freezer-Filler.  The fleeces on her daughters, however, have made me re-think their use.  Can anyone put these pieces together and suggest what kind of sheep Rebekkah might be???

thom
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