JACOB SHEEP

Jacob are a breed which dates back to biblical times.  They got their name 'Jacob' from Joseph's father, it is believed that  Joseph's 'coat of many colours' actually came from the Jacob sheep.  There is a natural variation of colours produced in a jacob sheep's fleece, although they cannot produce the vivid colours often desired today, the natural variation includes white, brown, black, orange, red and even lilac shades.  The breed has changed over the centuries, in this country Jacobs are now much larger and have either 2 or 4 horns rather than the 6 or more horns of the past.  The variation in colours is less desirable, white and black/brown are preferred due to an improvement in fleece quality.

Jacobs are a friendly, intelligent and independant breed of sheep, they have been mistaken for goats, when sheared by those who don't know any different.( one big difference being jacobs don't cry like goats)  They are good hardy sheep and usually lamb easily, preferring not to have human interference unless they ask for it.  Jacobs do have pronounced personalities that often pass on from generation to generation.

We have kept Jacobs for 19 years and some of our ewes are the progeny of our original stock whilst the others are progeny of stock bought in over the years.  Our current stock ram is Hurrisdale Barnaby, he is an extremely handsome lad whom we hope to show later in the year.

All our breeding stock are pedigree registered with the Jacob Sheep Society, and almost all of our stock have been scrapie tested.