[Jacob-list] Re: JACOBS by Anita Evangelista - Part 1 of 2

[Mark Essen]

My main ram came from The McCabes in Southern Missouri, and they got him as
a lamb from Anita.  Because I like what this letter says, and because it was
from Anita, I kept both part one and part two of this note.  I agree with
Edd, it bears re-reading every once in a while.
Mark Essen
Famous Acres
6701 County Road 353
Fulton, Mo.  65251
(573)642-0350
messen at socket.net
Jacobs 4-Horn Sheep, Pygmy Goats, Pyrenees, Peafowl, Turkeys, Highland
Cattle, Yak, Emu, Fallow Deer, Zebu Cattle all living together in the
Kingdom of Callaway
----- Original Message -----
From: Edd Bissell <bissell at usit.net>
To: <jacob-list at jacobsheep.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 1998 7:45 PM
Subject: JACOBS by Anita Evangelista - Part 1 of 2


>
> >Subject: JACOBS by Anita Evangelista - Part 1 of 2
> >
> >When I survey the many different types of Jacobs in other people's
flocks,
> >I am driven to two unmistakeable conclusions: first, that all Jacobs bear
> >certain superficial similarities, such as having horsn and spots; and
second,
> >that all Jacobs don't really look alike.
> >
> >This is one of the finer things about the breed - that wherever I go, I
see
> >examples of individual owner's preferences. Here, an owner has
consciously
> >selected for a tall, leggy, lean animal - over here, someone else prefers
a
> >short, stocky, meaty type. One breeder  is particularly concerned with
having
> >a fine, long-staple fleece for spinning, another breeder is
moreinterested in
> >the positioning and size of the animal's horns.
> >
> >Yet, given these differences, I can still see the unmistakeable stamp of
> >"Jacobness" on these animals - a certain type of head carriage, a loose
> >flocking behavior, ease of lambing, a hardy resiliance. Even though these
> >traits can also be selected for, or against, most breeders seem to be
less
> >concerned with these qualities.
> >
> >It is considerably easier to determine an animal's worth by what is
> >immediately visible than by these more elusive qualities. In the
commercial
> >breedshowring, today, sheep are not judged by their mothering abilities,
their
> >capacity for multiple birth, or their toughness - they are judged by a
fairly
> >arbitrary set of standards that are velieved to indicate the qualities of
a
> >good meat-producing animal. These qualities consist of traits we seldom
see in
> >Jacobs - such as a long, straight loin, filled and solid haunches, and a
> >speedy daily weight gain.
> >
> >It is fairly common knowledge in the sheep production industry that prize
> >winning animals which show these traits don't necessarily make good
> >breeding animals. Sterility dogs a number of top show Suffolk lines, for
> >instance, a characteristic which makes the animals a production failure.
> >In essence, there are "show" lines, and there are "production" lines.
What
> >a shame that the showring does not favor the traits for which the animal
is
> >actually used! What a shame that we sheep producers have let our fanati-
> >cal desire for personal acclaim override our animal's basic health and
our own
> >common sense!
> >
> >Perhaps it is nothing more or less than human nature which makes the
> >showring so important to some people. Our entire Western civilization has
> >risen from a concept of "progress", the movement toward an ultimate
goal - and
> >we all seem driven to determine our own goals and then make efforts to
achieve
> >them. It makes no difference if our goals fit in with the requirements of
> >simple survival for our livestock - witness the number of breeds ofshow
and
> >commercial sheep which must have a third of their lambs pulled, which
must
> >have excessive grain inputs to merely rear their young, which develop
foot rot
> >and become easily parisitized.
> >
> >It is the covert decisions we have made about American livestock produc-
> >tion that guide the acceptance of these goals. We want fast-growing,
> >meaty animals - so we pour in the grains. We want 120 pound lambs going
to
> >market at 5 months of age. So we attach a little steroid implant
> >to each animal's ear. We want a cash return for uniformity of our "crop",
> >so we make sure that every animal in our flock is line-bred back to a
> >desired "type". These are the traits we Americans secretly admire in our
> >sheep.
> >
> >Thankfully, Jacobs are not in a position to become 5-month growth
wonders.
> >They can do well enough without grain inputs to be a fine
> >strictly-pasture animal. But there is still that great danger, what Carey
> >Fowler and Pat Mooney have called "The Plague of Sameness". We
> >secretly want all our Jacobs to look alike, completely alike. We
individually
> >carry a mental picture of what an "ideal Jacob" is.
> >
> >Whose "ideal Jacob" is the real Jacob sheep? Is an animal with only two
> >horns a "real" Jacob? How about one with coarse, kempy wool? What
> >about a sheep with heavy quilting in its fleece - even if it has four
glorious
> >horns and well placed 60/40 spotting? Does a "real" Jacob ever produce
> >a very dark lamb, or a lamb with "apricot" or "lilac" fleece? Do true
Jacobs
> >have freckles? Will a "real" Jacob ever have white horns?
> >
> >How can we decide what constitutes a "real" Jacob? One method is to
> >seek out old photographs or drawings of the breed. Unfortunately, even
> >a good selection of illustrations will only show the animals individual
> >breeders raised - not the whole spectrum of the breed. Mr. Jones' 1850
> >type of Jacobs are only Mr. Jones' version of what the sheep should be.
> >Is that the type we should use to determine what a "real" Jacob is? If we
> >are to rely on old illustrations, we should also medicate and feed our
> >animals in the same way they did then - no vaccinations, no atibiotics,
no
> >AI, no grain, little or no housing - otherwise they are not the same as
the
> >old breed, no matter how superficially they appear the same.
> >                                                (continued)
> >
> >
>          Edd Bissell = Hidden View Farm = Rare and Primitive Breed Animals
> Scottish Blackface=Jacob=Barbados=Texas Dall=Navajo-Churro=Churro
Hairsheep
>      ====Tennessee Nervous Meat Goats =  = Great Pyrenees LGDs=====
>   http://www.exoticanimals.com = bissell at usit.net = 423-475-4844
>                    New Market, Tennessee U.S.A.