[Jacob-list] horny question :o)

[George L.Benedict]

Thanks to Mary for bringing up the question(s). So, I will come out of
lurking for a moment.

In the past 4 years we have had 21 rams and only 2 of those have had broken
horns in the course of that time. One of those was a handsome fellow with
beautiful balance except for horn #5.  You guessed it, the fifth horn was
the one that broke. The other was a 4H prone to fighting and it was one of
our Shetlands that did the deed to him. Of the 21 rams 15 were 4H 5 were 2H
and one was 5H.

On the other hand out of 53 ewes we have had over the same period, it looks
like we've had at least 12 with broken horns at some point. This is derived
from our farm journal and may be less than accurate. All of the broken horn
incidents save one occurred with 4H ewes. Of the 53 ewes, 27 were or are 4H.
So clearly our problem with breakage is primarily in 4H ewes and almost
always involves the lateral horns.

I'd also like to point out a reference for those who are polycerate fans.
"Black Sheep of Windermere" by David Kinsman is a recently published history
of the Hebridean breed. This very well written and researched book touches
on the history and genetics of all 4H breeds of sheep that can be found in
the UK and, of course, focuses on the Hebridean.

He also discusses the origins of most Park Breeds, including some
interesting info on our beloved Jacobs. There is an interesting discussion
about Henry Elwes and J. Cossar Ewart, essentially the founders of the
modern Park Sheep movement in the UK.   In 1911, realizing that these breeds
were rapidly disappearing, they circulated a letter to all those interested
in Park Sheep. A few excerpts are worth noting:

"It has been a common practice among many landowners to keep in their parks
various breeds of sheep which are generally not known to those who keep
sheep for profit only".(nothing's changed there!)

" ...as a rule they are valued as much for their ornamental qualities as for
...the mutton they produce". ( we should not lose sight of this aspect)

"the sheep we desire to improve have no standard or pedigree [and] are
liable to degenerate...as they are never seen at Agricultural Shows..."

"...until a society for the improvement of Park Sheep is formed, such breeds
as those we advocate must remain in their existing neglected condition" (by
this "improvement", they do not mean outcrossing to commercial sheep but
quite the opposite. Improvement here means to breed true to a mutually
agreed upon "type" or standard)

"Whether or not such a Society is formed...cannot be answered until we know
how many persons owning these breeds are inclined to join it." ( the
specific breeds they list are : Hebridean, Long-tailed Welsh, Soay, Manx,
Shetland, and the "pied sheep of  Spanish origin" sometimes called Syrian
usually with 4 horns, and the fat-rumped Asiatic breeds)

"In order to prevent feeding for exhibition would you agree to limiting the
live weight of your breed when exhibited for competition? ...or can you
suggest any other means by which the  overfeeding which is considered
necessary for showing  in all improved breeds can be prevented? "
(same old csize oncern as today...but outcrossing with larger breeds was not
the concern, feeding for the show ring was)

Most of all he emphasizes that all of these breeds were specifically kept
and bred for ornamental reasons in the latter 18th, 19th century and early
20th century and thereby it was of great benefit to the owners if such sheep
were hardy, easy lambers who could endure the neglect of the Parkland
shepherds, i.e. wealthy folk who were more interested in the "look" and the
grass and weed control offered by these breeds than any commercial concern.
These sheep were kept around as moving lawn ornaments and carefree lawn
mowers for several hundred years. Pastoral eye-candy, if you will.

Kinsman also has this to say about 2H/4H/Polled/topknot trends:

"Over the past 25 years, however, the balance of horn characteristics within
the Hebridean breed has changed enormously. Scurred and polled animals,
almost certainly the forms most likely to survive under the most stressful
conditions, have all but disappeared, as have animals with topknots."

Noting that 4H rams once accounted for a full 80% of the census for the
breed and had declined in 25 years to less than 20% Kinsman points a finger
at the following event:

"The RBST drew up a Register of Congenital Defects (1974) and split-eyelid
became targeted to be bred out of the multihorned breeds...The split -eyelid
problem has dominated the breeding policies of [breeders] and is one of the
major causes for the decline of multihorned animals. Split-eyelid was
unrecognised...until the late 1970's and...is clearly not a very serious
[condition]. In retrospect it was surely an error to categorise [it] as a
serious congenital defect [with the resulting considerable loss of early
phenotypes and genotypes]

I think there are some parallels in our breed. But, to address you other
questions, yes I feel we are undoubtedly breeding toward smaller (and
perhaps weaker)  horns if we insist on imposing the human esthetic of a
finger's spacing between the horns. I also think we have reduced the ratio
of 4H to 2H but the actual statistic is muddled by what gets registered and
recorded as opposed to what is being born. Imposing our registration
standards on my rams results in getting about 1 registerable ram per 8 rams
born or worse. What does the Jacob Biometric study indicate??

Regards,
George Benedict

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