[blackbelly] Interfering

[lmagedson]

You guys and gals all on the right track sort of...........   Left in its natural environment, the Blackbelly would never tread upon the same ground in the same season.  It most likely evolved that way until man started to domestic the sheep.  This has been thousands of years for wooly sheep, but most likely not that long for Blackbellys.  Being penned in a pasture is a recent manifestation compared to the length of time Blackbelly sheep have existed.   So, if you leave your Blackbellys in a natural environment (in the wild), don't mess with them. However, to place an animal in confinement (I consider a large pasture confinement vs. free ranging in nature) is to have already interfered, so saying I don't interfere with natural selection is wrong. You have done the deed, now learn to manage the sheep the best way you can for your situation. You cannot let nature take its course when you have already altered nature !    In the "wild" poor quality lambs would have been culled by predators.  Poor quality would be anything slower than the rest of the flock.  A susceptibility to parasites would tend to decrease the advantage against other flockmates when escaping predation.  Of course, it would most likely not be internal parasites, as the sheep would be mostly free of them from not grazing upon tainted pastures.  Remember they are free to roam on thousands of acres.   Predation and natural selection also allow for inbreeding to occur in the "wild" and why it can be difficult to perfect with managed sheep.  A ram will rule over his harem of ewes in the wild for several years during his prime.  He will breed back daughters and most likely granddaughters.  When another ram does succeed in defeating this ram it is most likely his own son.  And on and on.  What makes this type of close breeding is continuous refinement by predators and the environment.  Less than perfect animals will be eaten leaving only the best to continue the breed. It is up the shepherd to do this in managed flocks.    The main thing (in my opinion) shepherds to wrong is to worm routinely, without fecal testing.  If you don't test, you are throwing away money, time and making the parasites even more resistant.  Lambs kept on contaminated pastures will acquire parasites and a small load is necessary to trigger future resistance.  However, if any sheep needs worming it will most likely be a lamb (overcome with a large load of parasites) shortly after the milk production in the ewe drops or the lamb is removed for weaning.  Lambs can rarely overcome this very un-natural load of parasites and will be seriously injured internally if you allow it to continue.    So, where was I ?   My point again (got to go hubby is screaming for lunch) you don't have your sheep in a natural environment (unless you rotate pastures every week for a year). So don't plan on a letting nature take its course when you have stopped this from happening by penning your sheep, protecting them from predators, feeding them, and decided who the flock ram will be.   Lynn Magedson   Paul and Lynn Magedson Good Earth Organic Farm  Celeste Texas 75423 903-496-2070 http://www.goodearthorganicfarm.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pasture raised lamb and poultry  Great Pyrenees and   Anatolian Shepherd dogs Katahdin sheep    LaMancha dairy goats   Lilac heritage turkeys    Chickens               ----- Original Message ----- From: Carol J. Elkins To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, November 24, 2003 9:47 AM Subject: [blackbelly] interfering with natural resistence John, I agree wholeheartedly and you and I have shared that soapbox often in the past. It raises a question about a bigger philosophical issue, too. If a person lives in a geographical area where worm load is more of a problem, and if the only way to keep Blackbelly sheep healthy there is to routinely deworm, then is that person helping the breed by persistently raising an animal in an area in which it cannot naturally thrive? So many people overmedicate Blackbellies either because --they have raised wooled sheep and don't know any other way to do it. --they read in a book that the "right" way to raise sheep is to regularly worm and give CBT and other vaccinations and they do not want to be negligent. --everyone else in the area worms and vaccinates their sheep and the new Blackbelly breeder thinks this is the correct way to do things. --they know that they live in an area with bad worm infestation and the only way they can keep their Blackbellies alive is to worm them. Is it better to have a larger population of weak sheep or a very small population of very hardy sheep? Carol At 08:02 AM 11/24/2003 -0700, you wrote: >Many of you on this list have heard me get on my soap box about leaving the >breed alone. It is my belief that the more we interfere with them the weaker >their natural defenses to sickness and parasites becomes. =============================================== This message is from the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep mailing list. To respond to this message, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe or change your membership options, go to http://lists.coyotenet.net/mailman/listinfo/blackbelly