[Jacob-list] De-horning

[gordon johnston]

Don't forget also that the horns allow Jacobs and other horned breeds to
express the behaviour typical of that breed.  Horned sheep are fully aware
of the exact position of the tips of their horns and can use them with
precision.  4 horned sheep will use their horns to help another sheep
scratch itself, even to rub another sheep's eye (eek!), to flick an annoying
lamb out of the way, to fight or to clear a space at the feeder, to knock
down branches and so on.
The idea of dehorning Jacobs is as abhorrent to me as I am sure it is to
everyone else on this list.  There was a move in that direction a few years
ago here in Scotland, the reason put forward being to make them more
'commercial' - the proponent of that scheme was told to buy Texels and paint
spots on them !

Has anyone ever had naturally polled Jacobs from 4 horned parents ?
Occasionally polled Hebrideans (similar to Jacobs but without the white
bits) are born to 4 horned parents - we have one and she does look rather
strange !  We are breeding her for the first time this year and will be
interested to see how many horns her lambs have.

Juliet in Scotland