Inbreeding sheep

BoPeep75

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Recently I have been reading articles on sheep inbreeding. We have recently had several lambs, all of which happened to be male. Our last sheep is due and if she has a female, I would like to keep her purely for breeding sheep that we will eat. What are your thoughts on this? It is always giving me a yucky vibe but I know ppl do it. I don’t let my chickens even cross breed, but I know ppl do that too. I know it is an acceptable practice for some people, and I certainly am not breeding for show or anything like that. I just need another female Katahdin, and I’m having a hard time finding one locally. We would slaughter her lambs for food when they’re the appropriate age. Does it gross you out? Do you allow this?
 

Mini Horses

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No, doesn't gross me out. Many here raise lamb for food consumption, as well as goat, chicken, turkey, duck and rabbit. Just don't let those for that use become pets! They receive excellent care until only one bad moment of humane harvest.

Those lamb chops on grocers shelves were once lambs on pasture. It's true!
 

BoPeep75

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Oh I have no qualms about eating them. I just wondered about breeding a sire to his daughter. It’s more an emotional icky thing for me thinking about inbreeding, but we definitely eat the sheep. Yum! 😁
 

BrahmerQueen

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Recently I have been reading articles on sheep inbreeding. We have recently had several lambs, all of which happened to be male. Our last sheep is due and if she has a female, I would like to keep her purely for breeding sheep that we will eat. What are your thoughts on this? It is always giving me a yucky vibe but I know ppl do it. I don’t let my chickens even cross breed, but I know ppl do that too. I know it is an acceptable practice for some people, and I certainly am not breeding for show or anything like that. I just need another female Katahdin, and I’m having a hard time finding one locally. We would slaughter her lambs for food when they’re the appropriate age. Does it gross you out? Do you allow this?
Nope doesn't gross me out. I'm about to do something like this I think it's fine
 

BoPeep75

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Thank you. Those were my thoughts as well, since it’s only for food. I just didn’t want to think about eating anything that was going to come out with six legs and cross eyed. Lol i’m only kidding I know it won’t actually show anything like that but I guess I just wanted to hear more ppl say it was a common practice before we went down that path. This is about as far as we will go with it, but for curiosity’s sake, how far down the line do people inbreed? I haven’t gotten a firm answer in the articles, but I see people mating the sire to his daughter and granddaughter but I’m not sure where ppl stop, or if they stop purely based on what traits are showing up.
 

Alaskan

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but I see people mating the sire to his daughter and granddaughter but I’m not sure where ppl stop, or if they stop purely based on what traits are showing up.
That.

Inbreeding can be great to get a clear idea of what all genetically is hiding in your herd.

Nothing wrong with it... even if you know you have some horrid recessive something. Inbreeding can show you EXACTLY which animals are carrying it, and you can then cull those, and keep the ones that you now know do NOT carry "it".

So... useful tool.
 

BoPeep75

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That.

Inbreeding can be great to get a clear idea of what all genetically is hiding in your herd.

Nothing wrong with it... even if you know you have some horrid recessive something. Inbreeding can show you EXACTLY which animals are carrying it, and you can then cull those, and keep the ones that you now know do NOT carry "it".

So... useful tool.
Excellent point. If “crazy as a bedbug” is a inheritable trait, I’ve got one that I would love to cull when I have a replacement.
 

purplequeenvt

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If it works, it’s called line-breeding, if it doesn’t it’s called in-breeding.

You do what you have to do. It’s not ideal to breed father to daughter, mother to son, cousins or what have you too many times in succession, but it’s perfectly acceptable to do it occasionally.
 

Legamin

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Recently I have been reading articles on sheep inbreeding. We have recently had several lambs, all of which happened to be male. Our last sheep is due and if she has a female, I would like to keep her purely for breeding sheep that we will eat. What are your thoughts on this? It is always giving me a yucky vibe but I know ppl do it. I don’t let my chickens even cross breed, but I know ppl do that too. I know it is an acceptable practice for some people, and I certainly am not breeding for show or anything like that. I just need another female Katahdin, and I’m having a hard time finding one locally. We would slaughter her lambs for food when they’re the appropriate age. Does it gross you out? Do you allow this?
‘Inbreeding’ often referred to as ‘Linebreeding’ has been done for as long as there have been human developed domesticated breeds. Someone finds two sheep that have genetic and health traits that are desirable when mixed and they breed them together. When you get a couple lamb that are ‘PERFECT’ and they happen to be brother and sister or father/daughter or mother/son…you get the idea I’m sure..…they are bred together to promote the continued production of a line of ‘PERFECT’ sheep (goat, lizard, bird, elephant….) the goal is the ‘perfect’ physical and health qualities that can be reliably reproduced. Eventually there has to be other animals bred together to diversify the breed and create a broadly repeatable and reliable breed standard…this often takes 5-10 generations but can be perfected over 30-40 (sheep) generations. Diversity is REQUIRED for developing or improving and promoting a healthy future for your breed because many generations of inbreeding will weaken the genetics and create issues of unreliable health and physical traits that no longer reliably reproduce and protect the longevity of the breed. simply put, with too much inbreeding stuff quits working right and the basic building blocks quit stacking ’straight’. Both physicality, health of the animal and meat texture suffer.
Having said that…now….I understand that is NOT what you are doing! You are taking two healthy animals that are closely related and breeding them for your personal meat supply. A couple of things. You are not breeding to sell as ‘registered animals’ so there is no problem with ‘representation’. You are not trying to build a herd off of siblings and then continue to inbreed generations of sheep…so there is no problem with weakening genetics (which happens over time). You are breeding two sheep that happen to be siblings for meat. Which is fine and will have zero impact on the end product. This is done all thee time in simple meat production operations. And as long as it does not reoccur over multiple generations you have zero problems with weakening genetics or poor outcomes.
you can successfully have up to 10-11 years of lambs from the same couple and get consistently sound results for meat sheep. If you eat some of the lamb and it is the flavor and texture that you enjoy…keep doing it as long as they will cooperate! There is no reason to change a thing!

’inbreeding’ is OUR hang up….NOT theirs! They are sheep…they find comfort in company with each other. They don’t comprehend generational relationship in the sentient way you and I do. There is no ‘creepy vibe’ with this and no one who understands sheep and genetics should have any problem with it.
For your own peace of mind, when you are telling people that you breed sheep….tell them ONLY “that you are breeding sheep.” No one needs to know their familial disposition! It is ’lamb meat’ and it’s DELICIOUS!
You are doing nothing unusual or ‘creepy’. What you are doing is done around the world by virtually every small self-sufficient producer has been doing for thousands of years.
Finally, if you don’t like the texture or flavor of the meat you produce do some research and find a preferred breed stud on a nearby farm who’s owner (if you know them it will be easier) will allow you to put your ewe(s) in their flock at breeding time and then pick them up and take them home. If you are satisfied that you have produced the ‘perfect lamb’ continue doing this until you get a male and female and breed them for a decade of meat supply!
I charge a fee for studding…which keeps the number of requests at a reasonable level…of $50/day, $200/week, $450/month per ewe. I breed a very rare breed purebred and limit outside access because I prefer to focus on my own flock. But there are other producers with this breed who will travel a thousand miles to breed a couple ewes to add genetic diversity to their own flock. I ’lease’ my rams as well if I trust the person and see a ’clean’ and serious operation. But that’s me. (Informational only: PLEASE do NOT contact for breeding)
I hope I have eased any concerns about single generation sibling breeding. There is no problem as long as your are getting healthy animals and the texture and taste you want out of the meat. The sheep don’t care! If you only have a few you can just leave them happily together year round and they will mate once per year….though you should separate the ram from the ewe a few weeks before lambing and keep them apart until well after weaning. In some breeds the rams will demonstrate aggression towards the young…especially the males and you can end up with dead lamb and injured ewes. It is unfortunate but it is good standard practice to separate for about three months until the lamb is 60+lbs and can look after itself. Our operation is just big enough that I no longer use outside rams and we keep a ram pen of four to 6 rams and four wethers as ‘tease’ rams to get the ewes in synch before throwing the ‘hot’ rams in for breeding. It works…it’s a thing.
 
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