[Jacob-list] hay questions

[Neal and Louise Grose]

"Is this a trait that the ewe passes on and I have just been fortunate in not seeing it expressed in her previous lambs? "
We do not know. 
I will provide more details, but this is all just best guess. I can tell you a little more clearly what we do NOT know, but that is about it.

 Split Upper Eyelid Defect (SUED) is fairly random in the population of 4 horned sheep. 5 years ago, I would have said that this is only seen in sheep with horns that are too far forward and never seen in sheep with fused horns. This is false, though it is true in my (relatively large) flock. Others say that it is caused by having sheep with "screwy' horns, and the way to alleviate the situation is to use 2 horned rams every other generation. This is also false. The only SUED ewe we have ever had was out of the only 2 horned ram that we have ever used. What little data that has been gathered indicates that 4 horned offspring of two 4 horned parents have SUED at the same rate of those from one 4 horned parent and one 2 horned parent. Over-all, we can expect 4 horned Jacobs to have SUED at the rate of about 20% +or - 10%, some what more in rams.

If we use 4 horned rams, we will have some SUED along. I come down on the side of breeding for mediocrity. I lke to use 4 horned rams and select as I can inside the 4 horned population. Use rams that are well balanced, and don't get too worked up about perfect horns to the detriment of everything else. 

Neal Grose
Harmony, NC
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Melody 
  To: jacoblist 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 9:28 AM
  Subject: [Jacob-list] hay questions


  Just wondering how many of you feed alfalfa or alfalfa/grass mix hay to your sheep, and whether you feel it makes a difference in quality/quantity of fleece?    (as opposed to feeding grass hay).

  Also--genetic question here--had a lamb born with split eyelid, just a notch, but definitely not "normal".  This is the first time this ewe has had a lamb with this defect.  Is this reason to move the ewe higher on the culling list?  
  Of course now that it has occurred I can't find the earlier posts discussing the topic.  Is this a trait that the ewe passes on and I have just been fortunate in not seeing it expressed in her previous lambs?  I am so bad with genetics!
  Thanks for your help,.
  Melody at CritterLand
  Redmond OR

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