[Jacob-list] Comment on "American Jacob"

[2512 at nethawk.com]

Hi All, 
If we agree or do not agree that it is a standardized breed, the standard everyone is breeding for is not producing animals that look very much alike.  When I visit a farm I see a huge variety of fleece- (my first personal bias), bone structure, horns, colorations, and head type.  I think people still breed for what they like to see, within what is acceptable for  their opinion of an ideal Jacob.  

When you select your ram you have many different choices, if you like certain traits you are going to look for them.  Then you keep the ewes that have those traits.  I also think many people breed for personality to some extent (either intentionally or not) and eat the meaner ones and keep the more gentle ones.  The breed standards say nothing about personality  that I can see, so there are reasons why a less than perfect (according to the standards) sheep would stay in the gene pool.  

When you breed Jacobs, it is an art, some of you that have been doing this a long time, like Joan, Edd, Mary, Fred, George, Linda, Thom, and sorry for those of you I missed, are very developed in their art form, and some of us are still working on it.   All art is objective.  Thus with such diverse flocks, even though there is a breed standard, it is my belief that the Jacob sheep is not really "standardized", but I could be wrong.  

On http://albc-usa.org/wtchlist.htm it lists the American Jacob as a rare breed.  I found this site interesting and thought I would ad the link for those who haven't saw it. I can't believe there are not a lot more sheep breeds on this list yet with FMD slaughters running rampant in the UK, and lord help us all if it comes here.  The quote on the top of the page:

"...when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another Heaven and another Earth must pass before such a one can be again."
-William Beebe   


Bonnie 

Bonnie and Herb Sutten ~** Sheepy Thyme Farm**~Edmore, Michigan~**~
Llamas, California Variegated Mutant Sheep &  Natural Colored Romeldales
Jacob & Shetland Sheep, French Angora Rabbits,  ABCA Border Collies
http://www.agdomain.com/web/sheepythyme/ ** email: sheepythyme at nethawk.com

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