[Fieldfare]

A couple of questions- anyone keep Jacobs? what are they like (handling, disease, easy lambing?). and has anyone any idea of what you would get if you used a Castlemilk tup on them (all lambs for meat).

Thanks!

[Fleecewife]

We used to keep Jacobs but no longer do.  They are beautiful animals, full of character, which is why we chose them initially, but we found that they no longer live up to their previous reputation of being good lambers.  They have been bred to be ever bigger - ours frequently had triplets and almost invariably one of them would be backwards, making for a variety of complicated lambings.  They are hefty girls and as we grew older we found them too heavy to handle. How easy they are to drive, get into a pen etc depends on your system and your own skill - there will be wild ones and very friendly ones.
We only ever crossed ours with Shetland, Hebridean, Texel, all of which gave lovely meat and good sized carcases.
I would expect that using a CM tup would give a smaller lamb which should do away with some of the lambing difficulties, so definitely worth trying    The lambs should be mostly black.

[Hazelwood Flock]

I started with Jacobs, but quickly found their horns a nuisance both whilst foot trimming (digging in to legs) and getting stuck in fencing. They jumped like deer, and despite being bucket trained, would spring over hurdles from a standing start. Once I was introduced to Greyface Dartmoors, I never looked back! Horses for courses......

[Fronhaul]

We still keep Jacobs. 

Although they are hefty getting meat on that frame isn't easy.  I have crossed a couple with a BWM ram this year having heard of some good results from using Badger Faced rams on Jacob ewes.  Can only wait and see.

They are terrific characters.  I have just been out to shut the  barn door on our 8 early lambers because the weather is so foul and all 8 came crowding round even at 2 am happy to accept a scratch behind the ear or whatever else was on offer.

To my mind some are getting too big with the consequent dangers of losing some of the most desirable breed characteristics.  The current Jacob Journal is interesting on this point with a number of Judges preaching moderation and presence over size.  They are fantastic mothers.  They aren't in my experience immune from foot problems and we seem to spend proportionately far more time on Jacob feet than we do on BWM or Shetland feet.

Handling wise ours are generally very easy but we do spend a lot of time with them.  If they are wild then they can indeed be a total pain as they are very athletic despite their size.  Some shearers won't shear Jacobs because of their horns.

I would agree that a CM tup should produce a smaller lamb and most will be blackish in colour.  Hope this helps - I'm off back to bed.

[humphreymctush]

Dont be fooles by their hippy reputation and wacky appearance Jacobs are actually very good ewes for profitable lamb production. As for the Castlemilk question, I think its a bit of a waste keeping a biggish ewe all winter to get a little lamb slow growing lamb. If you use a Suffolk or Hampshire you will get a top quality commercial lamb.