When Good is Not Good enough

My sister-in-law Debbie came to visit us a week or so ago . Debbie lives in Canada with her husband Lawrence on a cattle ranch. As most families do we gave her the tour of my newest project "Sheep Camp". 

Polled and Horned Dorset ewes

With her experienced eye for livestock Debbie right away noticed the difference between the horned Dorset ewes and the polled Dorset ewes. Both nice looking but the horned ewes stand out as more stout, squared, nicer looking ewes. When Debbie asked why I thought that was my first and foremost opinion on the matter is "Hybrids"  

Some where along the way someone decided that the Dorset ewes should not have horns. Maybe it was for safety reason, maybe they were harder to take care of, I don't know the true reason, but I do know that the horns were breed out of them. I believe when they did this they lost in other areas. Like bone structure, the ability to maintain body weight as well as their horned counterparts.

Charolais cow and calf

Debbie said, "That Lawrence felt the same way about his Charolais. That no one wanted the horned Charolais so ranchers breed the horns out and when they did the cattle lost other good treats".

Maybe ranchers / farmers should focus more on improving the the good things and less worry about something like horns when it comes to the quality of the product. The 4-H motto is "Make the Best Better" not "Take the Best and Deplete it".

If horns are a safety issue, teach those who need it how to deal with livestock that have horns. Hybrid, when it comes to animals or plants even, are not always an improvement.

I read an article just the other day about  research done on a hybrid wheat. It seems that the wheat can resist diseases and pest, grows bigger and stronger than that of its ancestor. BUT! it turns out that the wheat causes spikes in blood sugar, throws off our internal temperature causing our bodies to not process it correctly and gaining more belly fat. Healthier wheat or healthier us????

For those of you who want to get back to heritage foods and not raised on additives we have it for you. Whether you like horns or not, we have it. All our sheep will be grass fed - back to basics - produced, product.
SHshshsh...don't tell the ewes I have favorites.