TIMING CAN BE EVERYTHING

In the 1970s the mainstream of Jersey AI was saturated with Marlu Milestone and Advancer Sleeping Jester blood, with some contribution from descendents of Tristram Lord Basil and Favorite Commando and a raft of Brigham-bred bulls of the Volunteer-Advancer crosses.   Around this time we discovered the "Commando" line had the *Limber Leg recessive and the "Tristram" line had *Recto-Vaginal Constriction, so there were two major milk lines of acceptable type knocked out of AI circulation.   Searching for an "outcross" milk line for AI matings, the breed discovered the two "SSO" brothers, and the rest is Jersey history.  

Sire lines from Observer Chocolate Soldier

Sire lines from SS Quicksilver of Fallneva

WHERE IT GETS COMPLICATED

J S Quicksilver Royal is a "Quicksilver" son, from a "Chocolate Soldier" dam.   His main son, "Alf", has four close-up crosses to "SSO" in his pedigree.   In the case of "Royal" you had extensive foreign usage, where he appears to have worked better than in the USA, with this result:

          Downline from "QS Royal" in New Zealand                                                                 son:  Judds Admiral    (sire of Glenariff Ads Panache, Willand Ads Samuel, Homestead Ernest)           son:  Crescent Royal Charles  (sire of Rivers Imperial SJ3, Alchiston Charlies Lad, Cresent CRC Shindler)    These bulls are sires and/or maternal grandsires to a large percentage of recent LIC-NZ Jersey sampling sires.

Highland Magic Duncan  is a "Quicksilver" son from a "Generator"dam, but a "Chocolate Soldier" grandam.   His son Highland Duncan Lester  has an EHV Noble dam, but a "Chocolate Soldier" grandam, total of three "SSO" crosses.

The two Yankee Chief daughters, "Althea" and "Barb", both have "Quicksilver"/"QS Magic" dams.   Likewise, Berretta is from a cow whose paternal grandam is a "Chocolate Soldier" and maternal grandam is a "Quicksilver".

Those Molly Brook brothers "Fair", "Fabulous", "Fusion", "Fantastic" etc. are "Berretta" sons of "Lester Fabulous" or her famous dam "Flower" so they count up six crosses to "SSO" between sire and dam.   There is a full-USA blood "Flower" bull active in Australia, Denmark, and Canada; for them they are outcrosses, and their evaluations reflect the "hybrid vigor" against their previously closed cow populations as much as any genetic superiority.    For the future vigor of the breed they need to value their own bloodlines that possess complementary traits to the SSO sire lines, rather than trust to the unsubstantiated possibility of turning "hybrid vigor" into a sustainable genetic advantage in later sire generations...    Otherwise, the only surviving sire lines under Interbull rankings will be USA-based lines.

Outcrosses to Secret Signal Observer???

There is not much left, and most of what is left reposes in cows; as they pass on, this uniqueness of pedigree will pass with them.   We encourage any breeder who recognizes he has such a cow to be particular in her remaining matings, to preserve both her trait quality and her gene uniqueness.

The goal of Breeders Choice Sires has been to approach this in four ways:   (1) preserve sons of more recent bulls/cows that have no "SSO" at all in their pedigrees:     Master Milestone C/ Master C Tops:  Vaucluse Sleeping Surville/Jodys Imperial Surville/Meadowlawn J Imperial:  Gil Bar Unique Sparkler:  Beauty Doris Master/Nabdon Master Patrick:   ISNZ Beldene Dukes Landy.   (2) develop bulls, while having maybe SSO descent through "Quicksilver", have no "Sooner" blood  --  and likewise.   (3) expand the distribution of bulls, such as the NorthCoast Group, who are interested in preserving lines whose phenotypes are different from the mainstream (ie, more strength, wider frame, longer teats, higher test%s, lower SCS, polled heads) and thereby offer different gene persistencies even though they may have some similarity in ancestral origin.    (4) encourage Canadian and Danish and New Zealand and Island breeders to maintain some of their breeding cattle free from SSO influence imported from the USA, in spite of aggressive AI promotion due to Interbull rankings, so as to preserve future sire line variety in the Jersey breed.