Carol,
It's not really the pedigree itself that should be the qualifier, but the husbandry and record keeping that the breeder uses. By "show-quality animals" I'm assuming you mean registerable or registered sheep that meet breed standards. Just because a sheep is registered or registerable, does not mean it is a good animal. All it means is that the sheep LOOKS like the what an association thinks it should look like. If an animal hasn't been cared for properly, and has not been bred with consideration and foresight, then although it may look all right, you may be purchasing a bunch of problems down the road.
Diana suggested some good questions to ask the breeder to avoid some of these problems. In my experience, people who don't concern themselves with pedigree (which means they don't have a breeding plan) aren't managing their flock many other critical ways, either. I suggest you look for a breeder who is maintaining good records on her sheep. There are many people who keep excellent records and who engage in good breeding practices and flock management that do not raise registerable sheep. They may, for example, purposefully raise cross-bred sheep to bring out the best qualities of two breeds. Or they may deliberately wish to raise blackbellies with characteristics that don't conform to the breed standard--coloration being one of the most common.
Were you to purchase sheep from these breeders, you would increase your chance of having good breeding stock for your lamb meat business. In contrast, if you purchase breeding stock from a sale barn or from a breeder who cannot demonstrate good flock management skills and recordkeeping, then you really don't have a clue what package of genetics you are purchasing. They are wrapped up inside what might look like a great sheep, but those little hidden time bombs can ruin your flock in no time.
Carol
At 07:54 PM 8/6/2004 -0400, you wrote:
My main purpose is to raise them for meat for my family and to sell for meat. I don t plan on any showing. So How important is the history or linage of the animals I buy? We ve found a farm that raises show quality about an hour away and a lady locally that raises some for her own meat. Would buying from this lady how doesn t concern herself with pedigrees by a safe bet? Should we concern ourselves with pedigrees for raising only for meat? Thanks for the info, Carol Motsinger.
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