[Jacob-list] reply to "Where are..."

[Grose]

Mary Ellen Hansson commented..."......I have been looking for one of those for years.  Neal keeps telling me to just quit it.  

All kidding aside......What I would like to find is a ram that would THROW the perfect set of perfect lambs using my group of less than perfect ewes" ...

What I have said is that "there is no such thing as a perfect ram, we would not know it if we had one, and it may not be good for the breed to use one."
    The trick is that we are such poor judges of genotype when we look at phenotype that it does not make sense to me to base breeding decisions on one animal. A ram that performs admirably in one flock may bomb in another. Using one ram till he croaks and then finding another and using that one till he croaks [ no matter how good they are] narrows the genetic diversity of the breed drastically.
    Many of the traits that we look for in Jacob sheep, such as horn-set and markings, have such low heritability that we have almost no idea what we are doing. When it comes right down to it, there are none of us smart enough to accurately describe one rams genotype based on appearance [phenotype]. At the same time, as dumb as I am, I can tell you the genotype of TEN rams...it is the average of their phenotypes. 

Neal Grose

PS to Sue: I have seen ewes bang on a gate to get at the very handsome silver Cotswold/ Finn ram that we once had!
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