[Jacob-list] Primitive Jacobs UK?

[MarmontJacobs at aol.com]

Hi Gordon,
             We're all setting up the logs now!! As Breed Promotion Member 
for the Eastern Region of the JSS, and the owner of the Royal Welsh Champion 
2000 - believed to weigh over 250lb - I'm afraid I'm with the bigger-the 
-better line. The Jacob is no longer a Rare Breed in the UK (around 30000 
head) **precisely**because it has moved with the times and found a viable 
market for **all** its products as well as being a great set of characters to 
have about the place. The reason it is still a Primitive in the US is largely 
due to the fact that the average American eats 1lb of lamb a year (so the 
meat is currently less important), and they have to cope with a limited gene 
pool, so their survival is via the homespinning/knitting market.
    However, if you insist, your best bet I suppose will be the Rare Breed 
Parks and similar where they are usually a lot less selective over their 
breeding stock and just want some lambs for the punters. Bear in mind though 
that other problems may also have been overlooked such as split-eye, forward 
growing horns (skull weakness), and so on.  Beyond that even unregistered 
sheep in this country are very often much bigger than they were in the 1970s.
    TM-S