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.

[NormsRevenge]

Sheep and lambs are seen west of Sydney in this July 13, 2005 file photo. Australian scientists have called on the country's farmers to report any ugly sheep found in their flocks. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

[Uriah_lost]

There's a joke in here....something about too much beer and waking up...

[The Red Zone]

baaaaaaaaaad! baaaaaaaaaaad!

[patton]

cough cough lol cough

[tomzz]

How about ugly pigs??

[coconutt2000]

"Hello!?!"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to report an ugly sheep sitting on your front porch."

"I'm sorry, I don't raise sheep."

"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that you got an ugly sheep on your front porch."

"Hold on... Hey, that's my wife!!! Who is this? I'm going to get you for this!!!"

*click* *dial tone*

[skepsel]

The untold origin of "virgin wool"?

[NormsRevenge]

you used to watch Monty Python too, Huh? :-]

[Calpernia]

Sounds like SARDI needs a good dose of SENSITIVITY training!

[coconutt2000]

Doesn't every FReeper?

[Uriah_lost]

Semi off color joke warning....DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO SUCH THINGS!!!




Ok here goes,
A tourist wants to get a "genuine" experience while visiting a station(ranch) in Australia. He convinces the hands to take him out overnight to sit with a flock.

As night falls, the beer flows and the tourist asks if it's true that people have "relations" with the sheep out here. One of the hands says "sure, it gets lonely out here and sometimes a sheep can get you by"

A little more beer flows and the tourist says he'd like to try it.
The hands exchange looks and tell him to have a go.
The tourist looks nervous and asks how to go about it.

The hand says, "find one that looks good to you, walk up to her and take her over behind that scrub brush over there, grab her hind legs and stick them in your boots."
"That's it?" asks the visitor.
The hand looks at his mates and they all nod. The tourist follows their instructions .....

A few minutes later he's walking back to the camp and he can here the hands laughing it up.
"you tricked me!" he says, red faced.
"no trick mate" the hand protests.
"then what are you laughing at?"
The hands all start laughing again.


One of the hands manages to choke out between peels of laughter,



"You picked the ugliest one!!!"

[patton]

wasn't stump broke, mate?

[NormsRevenge]

LOL.. Good point.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Australian scientists have called on the country's farmers to report any ugly sheep found in their flocks."

...to inform them that they do NOT need to be diapered like regular cute sheep, which cause Muslim males in the outback to become sexually aroused.

It is against sharia law to have undiapered sheep and goats in many Islamic countries,(including shia controled areas in Iraq) the penalty for keeping undiapered goats and sheep is death. It's the least Australians can do to respect the Islamic culture- Diaper your sheep! (unless they are ugly)

[Paleo Conservative]

[Springman]

Sure there is a Fred Imus joke here somewhere!!!!

[leadpenny]

If it weren't for sheep, ugly or otherwise, Fred wouldn't have a social life.

[Slings and Arrows]

Baaaaa, humbug.

[JRochelle]

Are you saying Fred has relations with his sheep?

[leadpenny]

Sort of like asking me if I've stopped beating my wife.
There is no right answer.