[Jacob-list] breeding lines

[Thomas Simmons]

Melanie- 

Much depends on your plans for the progeny, as well as the importance to you of preserving a particular "line."

It is *not* bad in and of itself to breed a ram to a relative; there is an old saying that if it turns out bad, it's inbreeding, but if it turns out good, it's line-breeding!

I would breed a ram to a female relative in order to preserve the traits within that particular ram's line, with an eye towards replacing the original ram with his line-bred progeny.  However, I would then use that male progeny to cross-line breed to ewes of another "line."

So, since Arthur's son is still young, you may not need a "replacement" for him soon; you can use his to breed unrelated ewes. But, if you like what Arthur produces, you might want to breed him, later on, to a mom, sister, or daughter to "replace" him as he gets on in years. 

 Personally, I have a few ewes out of Dan Kennedy's old "Killorglin"  flock, all of which are very primitive looking, very dark, and have blue eyes.  I am really HOPING for a ram out one of them, so that I can breed him back to a Killorglin ewe and create sort of a "Genetic Killorglin Package" in a future ram.  I hope to do the same with my two Northcote sheep, and with my (for-lack-of-a-better name), Waldo line (a number of unregistered and FF sheep in midcoast Maine).

thom
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