Thematic Bible: Facts about breeding
Thematic Bible
Animals » Facts about breeding
Laban took out the striped and spotted male goats, all the speckled and spotted female goats (every one with white on it), and every black lamb. He had his sons take charge of them that same day. They moved away from Jacob with this flock as far as he could travel in three days. Jacob took care of the rest of Laban's flocks. Jacob took green branches of poplar (storax), almond, and plane trees and stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them. read more.
He placed these branches in front of the flocks at their drinking troughs. He put them there, because the animals mated when they came to drink. So when the goats bred in front of the branches, they produced young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted. Jacob kept the sheep separate from the goats and made them face in the direction of the streaked and black animals of Laban's flock. In this way he built up his own flock and kept it apart from Laban's. When the strongest of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods. When the flock was feeble, he did not put them in. That way the feebler were Laban's and the stronger Jacob's. He became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.
He placed these branches in front of the flocks at their drinking troughs. He put them there, because the animals mated when they came to drink. So when the goats bred in front of the branches, they produced young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted. Jacob kept the sheep separate from the goats and made them face in the direction of the streaked and black animals of Laban's flock. In this way he built up his own flock and kept it apart from Laban's. When the strongest of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods. When the flock was feeble, he did not put them in. That way the feebler were Laban's and the stronger Jacob's. He became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.
When Laban said, 'The speckled goats shall be your wages,' all the flocks produced speckled young. When he said, 'The striped goats shall be your wages,' all the flocks produced striped young. This way God has taken sheep and goats from your father and given them to me.