[Jacob-list] Quilting

[CARL FOSBRINK]

Neal,
   
     I agree with you about quilting. I don't think it is a sign of crossbreeding at all. Sometimes a lamb will be quilted it's first year and then not quilted after it's first shearing.
     A couple of years ago we had a very good ewe that was not quilted her 1st year, but was quilted her 2ND year. I was about ready to cull her, but she was so nice I kept waiting and her 3rd year she was not quilted again so I'm glad we kept her. 
     It has been my experience that in 1st year lambs the dark wool can be longer or shorter than the white wool, but in older Jacobs that have quilting the dark wool is usually shorter than the white wool.
     As Judy says, quilting doesn't make any difference after you sort the fleece out into dark, white and gray piles. It is just that a Jacob with quilting is not as pleasing to the eye as one that is not quilted.
     The ram Hatch's Eder had quilting, but was beautifully marked and had extremely good type and markings and a magnificent set of horns. He was certainly not a crossbred. He was used for many years and there is without a doubt a lot of Jacobs out there with him in their pedigree.
   
  Carl Fosbrink 
   
   
   
   
     
   
  

Neal and Louise Grose <nlgrose at yadtel.net> wrote:
          Various people get have lots of opinions about this. And I am not entirely sure why some find it scandalous. It seems to be highly environmental, appearing some years in certain sheep and not in others. In our flock, it shows up in stress years as shorter, finer colored wool. Others has assured me that THAT is all wrong and that it is the white wool that comes out shorter and finer. (and surely it is a sign of crossbreeding...)
   
  Oh, rubbish. It is undesirable. Until I hear a good biological theory for why we should cull for quilting, I am simply going to use it as one of many criteria and not get too wound up about it. 
   
  Neal Grose
    ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Susan J Martin 
  To: Sheep E-mail List 
  Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 9:46 PM
  Subject: [Jacob-list] Quilting
  

  Just curious about quilting of the fleece of your sheep --- how do you view this?  Is it a problem worth culling for?  I have not seen a lot of it........but it can occasionally crop up and I was curious how other breeders handle this.
  Sue Martin
  Stonecroft
   
   
    
---------------------------------
    
_______________________________________________
Jacob-list mailing list, sponsored by Swallow Lane Farm & Fiberworks
Jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/jacob-list

_______________________________________________
Jacob-list mailing list, sponsored by Swallow Lane Farm & Fiberworks
Jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/jacob-list



Carl and Judy Fosbrink
  www.4hornfarm.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.pairlist.net/pipermail/jacob-list/attachments/20080103/57bb70fb/attachment.htm>