Australian farmers called to report ugly sheep (It's a wool thing)

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 8/15/06 | Reuters

[NormsRevenge]

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian scientists have called on the country's farmers to report any ugly sheep found in their flocks.

A campaign called "Xtreme sheep" aims to study sheep with undesirable wool features to unlock the genetic makeup of the prized merino and ensure production of its high quality fleece.

The South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) said on Tuesday its search for "Australia's ugliest merino lambs" may hold the key to securing the nation's A$2.8 billion (US$2.1 billion) wool industry.

The institute said ugly lambs -- with uneven wool, strange fibers, clumps of wool that fall out, bare patches, no wool, or highly wrinkled skin -- are usually culled by farmers.

"Before sending them to the abattoir, we'd like farmers to talk to us first, because studying animals with extreme features offers one of the most efficient ways to find good genes that can impact on certain wool traits," said project leader Simon Bawden.

"It might seem a paradox that ugly wool may be good, but when looking through a genetic profile, the random genetic mistakes act like a flag, speeding up our search to finding genes critical to wool formation and synthesis," Bawden told reporters

The institute hopes to the DNA study will lead to improvements in Australia's merino wool, making it stretchier, less scratchy, shinier and easier to spin, and better able to compete against synthetic fibers.

So far only 10 ugly sheep have been found this lambing season, which stretches from April to September, when statistically there could be hundreds, said the institute.

[American Vet Repairman]

Are the Aussies concerned about the sheep being ugly from the front or the back?

[RichInOC]

Australian farmers called to report ugly sheep

[cue Minnie Riperton]

Lovin' ewe is easy cause ewe're beautiful
Makin' love with ewe is all I wanna do
Lovin' ewe is more than just a dream come true
And everything that I do is out of lovin' ewe
La la la la la
La la la la la
La la la la la la la la la
Do do do do do...
Ooooooooh.

No one else can make me feel
The colors that ewe bring
Stay with me while we grow old
And we will live each day in springtime

Cause lovin' ewe has made my life so beautiful
And every day my life is filled with lovin' ewe
Lovin' ewe I see ewe's soul come shinin' through
And every time that we oooooh
I'm more in love with ewe
La la la la la
La la la la la
La la la la la la la la la
Do do do do do...
Ooooooooh.

[RichInOC]

[cue the Flamingos]

My love must be a kind of blind love...
I can't see anyone but ewe...

(doowopshoowop...doowopshoowop...)

Are the stars out tonight?
I can't tell if it's cloudy or bright...
I only have eyes...for ewe...dear...

The moon may be high
But I can't see a thing in the sky
I only have eyes...for ewe...

I can't tell if we're in a garden
Or on a crowded avenue...

Ewe are here and so am I
Maybe millions of people go by
But they all disappear from view
And I only have eyes...
For ewe....