I have hair sheep because of the ease of lambing, their hardiness & lack of wool & docking issues.
I have sheep to use in training my dogs to herd, so I can exhibit the dogs in stock dog events.
They all have names... not that they know them... so I don't really think that is a domestication problem. ;-) 'Real' shepherds (the people, not the dogs) probably tag their sheep & keep records of who birthed who via numbers. I don't tag my sheep, my records are based on names & color descriptions.
Color descriptions? Yes, it's true.. I have mutt sheep. They are not all black & red. The few that are classically marked are unique enough to be told apart.
As far as ruining hair sheep with over domestication, I don't think providing shelter, supplementing their diet or providing medicines when ill make breeds 'wussy'. ;-) Sort of like dogs... I'm sorry... I can find a way to compare everything to raising dogs... breeds become 'wussy' when humans start selecting (keeping alive) traits that are not in the animal's best interest. For an example... Bulldogs... with their large head & shoulders... they're difficult to impossible to whelp without a c section. This head & shoulder modification was not the Bulldog's idea...
Anyway... to avoid 'over domestication' the breeder has to keep a brain in their head & their head on their shoulders. ;-) If a ewe needs to have lambs pulled or orphans her babies... then retire her & from breeding. (Sell to someone who wants pets or lawn mowers... bbq... send to auction... something.) Sheep with underbites, overbites or other defects should not be bred. Sickly animals that need special attention should not be bred. Lovely animals with crappy temperaments should not be bred. (This one is tricky because my idea of crappy probably isn't your idea of crappy. As a human shepherd, I don't keep anything that thinks it's job is to remove ME from the gene pool.)
I personally like the no-horned Blackbellies better for herding, but don't have any registered ones because I would 'waste' them by allowing them to breed with not registered ones. Currently, I'm looking for a new ram, and would take a young St Croix, Katahdin or BB...
Diane Silver Lining Farm Battle Creek, MI
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