All Babydoll sheep have Southdown genetics and any one of them could be carrying the gene for Gaucher Disease. Life for a lamb born with two copies of the Gaucher gene is pretty grim and short since they are unable to stand and feed. Anecdotally, it also seems that ewes carrying Gaucher are less fertile, more likely to have stillborn lambs and more likely to die unexpectedly (especially soon after lambing). None of us need this in our Babydoll flocks. Fortunately there is a simple, inexpensive DNA test that can be done to find out whether a sheep is carrying Gaucher. Please ask about the Gaucher status of any Babydoll rams and ewes before buying. It is much easier to check before buying and avoid introducing Gaucher into your flock than to try to fix the problem later. Despite its name, Gaucher Disease is not an infectious disease like Ovine Brucellosis but a genetic fault. It is possible to eradicate Gaucher from a Babydoll flock.
The only way to find out if a sheep carries the Gaucher Disease gene is to DNA test and that is pretty easy to do - just a couple of drops of blood on a special collection card sent off to the testing lab. Where both parents have been shown to be Gaucher Free, their lambs will also be Gaucher Free by pedigree. Excuses we have heard for not testing for Gaucher (none of these are true):
In theory, a ram carrying the Gaucher gene will pass on the gene to approximately half of his lambs so will spread Gaucher through your flock quickly. Ewes carrying the gene will also pass it on to half of their lambs but have less impact because they are not a parent to as many lambs. In cases where Gaucher has been detected in Babydoll flocks, it has turned out to be passed on to a much higher proportion of lambs that what the theory predicts. If you breed with Babydolls that carry the Gaucher defect, it will spread silently through your flock, potentially creating a big problem for you in the future. See the Southdown Australia website for more information about Gaucher Disease, how to test and options for eradication. https://www.southdownaustralia.com.au/gaucher-disease.html Comments are closed.
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