[Jacob-list] Selective breeding and sudden death of ewe

[Linda]

Hi Sharon,

I'm really sorry to hear that you lost Dixie.  She was such a pretty girl.  I'm at a loss as to why she was always thin and her twin, Sunshine, was always fat.  I hope someone has been able to suggest reasons for her loss.  I've had some sheep choke, but they have always managed to spit up the particle.  I did have a rabbit choke badly once.  He ended up with particle pneumonia and died a couple of days later.  

Light markings are not by themselves an indication of crossbreeding.  The JSBA standard does accept ewes as AC that have less than 15% color.  The Jacob is a black sheep with white spots and you certainly do see very lightly marked animals.    There are alot of other, more important (in my very, very humble opinion) traits that are more important to "jacobness".  Spots are just a part of being a Jacob. 

Linda
What's New at Patchwork Farm?

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 10:12:47 -0700 (PDT), Sharon Hill wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I haven't posted in a while, but I still have my Jacob sheep.  I
> have a couple of comments and questions now, and I hope someone can
> help me.  My favorite ewe, (this was Dixie, Linda) suddenly died a
> couple of nights ago. She was fine when I went in to feed
> everyone.  I puttered around in the yard while they were eating.
> Ten minutes later I looked in on the sheep and she was lying there
> dead.  She was current on vaccinations and worming.  She had 2
> lambs whom she was in the process of weaning, and she was pretty
> thin, although she has always been thin.  Other than that, she
> seemed to be perfectly healthy. The only thing I can think of is
> that she choked on her grain. Does anyone have any other ideas?  I
> am very upset about this as she was my first Jacob and special pet.
> Her lambs are my favorites too.
>
> My other comment is on the selective breeding
> question. I haven't been registering my sheep for a couple of
> reasons.  One is laziness and another is I question the subjective
> quality of some of the
> requirements for registration, at least in one of the registries.
> For example:  Dixie was a registered ewe.
>
>> From 2 different rams, both of which came from
> registered stock, she has twice given me a pair of lambs, one ewe
> and one ram.  Each time, the ewe lamb has been beautifully marked.
> Lots of color and
> patches in all the right places.  The ram lambs have each been very
> lightly marked.  They have small eye patches, and black on the neck
> to the shoulders, and then nothing.  No knee patches, white feet,
> just a couple of small black spots near the shoulders.  They are
> beautiful sheep with nice fleeces.  There is nothing butt ugly
> about them, but I doubt they would pass the registration
> requirements.  Are they
> genetically any less a Jacob sheep than their twins, who most
> likely could be registered?
>
> Another point:  I have a lamb who is 3/4 Jacob and 1/4 Suffolk.
> She is marked almost exactly like a Jacob. She has the patches in
> all the right places.  She "looks" more like the "ideal" Jacob than
> the 2 lightly colored ram lambs, but she ain't no Jacob.
>
> I realize that there are registration criteria other than looks,
> but it is easy  to use the registry
> guidelines for color and markings when making breeding and culling
> decisions.  I like my light colored sheep, but they are whethers
> and they are not in the gene puddle anymore.  Even though I am not
> registering my sheep at present, I am also making breeding
> decisions on the way a Jacob is supposed to look.  Should we
> question whether this is a good thing for the breed as a whole?
>
> Sharon Hill
> Kingston, GA
>
> --- Linda <patchworkfibers at alltel.net> wrote:
>
>> You can count on me to maintain a gene pool of missing eye
>> patches - just in case you want to add something 'different' when
>> the trait has been lost :-)
>>
>> Joking aside,  I don't think that diversity must necessarily
>> include butt ugly (wonderfully
>> descriptive term!) sheep.  I like pretty sheep.  I don't show
>> sheep and don't really know much about what the judges are
>> looking for in Jacobs.  Imagine it must be hard to agree on a
>> show standard for such a diverse breed.  I raised and showed
>> Quarter Horses for a number of years.  The different types of
>> Jacobs can be pretty without being the same
>> body/fleece/etc type the same way a QH can be pretty and so can
>> an Arabian.
>>
>> This topic started with a mention of missing eye patches.  Mary
>> Ellen points out some less visible, but more important, traits
>> that we shouldn't lose sight of.  Without hardiness, we're going
>> to have a hard time working towards whatever our other goals are.
>>
>> Linda
>> What's New at Patchwork Farm?
>>
>> On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 05:51:09 -0700 (PDT), Mary Hansson wrote:
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