What a great thread!!!! This is the reason to be on a list like this. 8>)
A couple more thoughts about domestication. Basically all of our sheep are, to some extent, domesticated. They rely on us for security, feed supplements, water, etc. And there have been some comments that are consistent with my thoughts, Diane's comments about removing ewe's from breeding for obvious reasons, Krista's observation about how these sheep are kept in Barbados. Good stuff. I guess when I started this thread I wasn't thinking in terms of handling the animals, but going overboard with pharmaceuticals. I agree with Mike that we would not let a baby and ewe die for treatable causes, and if we were to find a worm infestation we would certainly deal with it. Where my thoughts were headed was from what I have seen with other breeds. The horse industry, for example, would have you worming your horse every two months, all year round, wether there is any indication of need or not. The result is that the horse ends up dependant upon this level of care. The BB's, from our short experience, is just the right mix of hearty and adaptable. We give them a bit of grain and hay in the winter to supplement their grazing and a mineral block to help with trace elements. Our thoughts are that if we don't get started with the steady stream of pharmaceuticals that this breed will continue to be hearty and won't develop into needing every little pill and shot just to survive. This, to us, would be the level of "Domestication" that would hurt the breed. Ron and Sandy ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! =============================================== This message is from the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep mailing list (http://www.awrittenword.com/listserv/index.html). 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 To search the archives, go to http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
