SHOW POINTS FOR SHEEP

Southland Times, Issue 23794, 17 April 1939, Page 11

SHOW POINTS FOR SHEEP

REQUIREMENTS OF NO UTILITY VALUE In registered purebred sheep, definite types, or patterns or wool-covering over face, ears and legs, are made to constitute an outstanding requisite of merit. While some definite characteristics should form a distinguishing feature in the general make-up or conformation of any particular breed, and which for the most part do have a utility basis, breeds standards require that the animal should have certain characteristics which have ’no utility value, states a northern writer. These characteristics merely refer to appearance and consequently they are only “points of fashion.” Colour has always played a prominent part in livestock generally, while in sheep distinctive patterns of distribution and density of wool over face, ears and legs have been accepted as essential breed traits.

The trouble is that all breeds are more or less heterozygous in these individual traits and the attempt to fix them or any one of them, is often accomplished only at the expense of some other and perhaps more desirable trait. The more that attention is paid to these minor traits, the more difficult it is to maintain the general utility standard of the animal.

Perfection is more likely to be attained and maintained by concentrating on one desirable trait at a time. Attention to minor traits which have no genetic correlation with each other constitutes a drag towards. mediocrity and it is responsible for the production of so many inferior offspring in purebred herds. From the practical breeder’s point of view characteristics which conform merely to the requirements of fashion, without contributing to the utility of the animal may become a liability rather than an asset. Selections in mating, if improperly carried out, may lead to the creation of a herd or flock that is all fashion and no utility. Wool on the head, ears or legs of a sheep has practically no value, even in the breeds that have the heaviest growth on these parts, and this trait may be regarded as purely one of fashion and quite outside the sphere of commercial utility. The general result of a number of crossbred experiments goes to show that while there is some correlation between the degrees of fineness of wool and the degree to which it covers the extremities, it is not a dominant texture and can be bred out to the advantage of desirable and useful qualities.