[Jacob-list] Re: British Jacobs, spongeing etc

[Debbie Bennett]

I've bred a couple of my Jacob ewes (first time mothers) to an 
Icelandic ram and am very pleased with the results. The lambs are 
small, so even if I overfeed my ewes, they can still lamb on their own. 
They are quiet and tend to bond with their dam well, grow fast and  
their fleece is lovely - very open, soft and long. I can shear them 
once before they go to market. The one older ewe I bred to the 
Icelandic ram seemed to have a little trouble keeping up with her twins 
- the Icelandics do hit the ground running and need more milk than the 
Jacobs.
Debbie Bennett
Feral Fibre Farm

On Friday, April 18, 2003, at 02:59 AM, MarmontJacobs at aol.com wrote:

> Hi Juliet,
>              So we agree then. It is a shame that at Shows the lambs 
> need to
> be early born. Our show ewe lamb this year is late Feb born (naturally
> conceived), so is already at a disadvantage. Showing is good for the 
> breed -
> bringing the sheep (and it's products) into the public eye, but judges 
> don't
> take into account of when they were born. This is proving to be a bad 
> year
> for grass - the only people we know with grass are above 1000 feet 
> where it
> is being brought on by the dew!
>
> Re the size comment, I have in the past had twins weighing in at over 
> 26
> pounds combined birth weight - twin rams with the horns just through 
> so a
> tight fit. Greed at the trough or the ewe equivalent of gestational
> diabetes!! I would rather they were leaner at birth as they seem to be 
> this
> year. The Jacob ewe that lambed naturally and last had overwintered up 
> the
> hill with the shearling ewes and the Icelandics on a handful of 
> concentrate.
> Her lambs were amongst the lightest we have ever had, but very 
> healthy. I
> shall watch their progress with interest.
>
> The Icelandics lamb their lambs five days before other breeds and the 
> lambs
> are glued to mum from birth so no need to pen them up at all. THey 
> catch up
> fast due to the quality of the milk - although I'm not making cheese 
> this
> year..BUT they do not appear to be as mentally switched on as the 
> Jacobs for
> the first few days and are more vulnerable due to their size. The 
> cacophany
> at midnight last night was the mother of a day old Icelandic who had 
> found
> his way through the wire into the llama field. So there he was 
> surrounded by
> two large llamas and a Jacob ram lamb about ten times his size - now 
> what was
> HE doing in there!?!
>
> Trisha
>
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