Zynga shears illegal FarmVille Sheep Breeding, but the damage is done

Did any of you inherit an awesomely-colored Sheep from a friend recently while on the English Countryside? As it turns out, that ewe or ram could very well be the descendant of an illegitimate, unreleased Sheep in FarmVille, according to Zynga. The company published a blog post today describing the situation, but admitting that it's almost impossible to remove the offspring of the illegal Sheep even after stopping the source.

This is especially due to the fact that those new branches on the Illegal Sheep Family Tree are 100 percent legit, at least in their methods. Furthermore, Zynga cannot even explain how a few players got a hold of the previously unreleased Sheep varieties to breed them for the masses. "Please bear this in mind if you think someone has 'cheated,'" Zynga wrote. "Chances are, they haven't been."

What's a bummer about this is that some minor content planned for Sheep Breeding has leaked, just like that. This could mean that it might be a little longer than usual before Sheep are updated again with new colors. In other sheepish news, the post goes on to reveal some more details and changes. Check them out:

    We also wanted to let everyone know about a change in how sheep breeding works. Previously when you got three lambs of the same gender in a row, you received a lamb of the opposite gender automatically. Currently we've made an alteration to this process so that the chances of getting a ram or a ewe are completely random, though the possibility of getting a ewe is higher than getting a ram.

    Finally, the 100 bred sheep limit (which includes current bred lambs and sheep on your farm as well as in your sheep pen or in your Gift Box) applies for each farm. So, for instance, if you have just 75 bred sheep on your English Countryside Farm, you should still have the capability of having 100 bred sheep on your Home Farm.

Reverting the recent change that guaranteed results in different Sheep genders should even the playing field a bit. Though, it's not entirely clear as to why Zynga leans farther one way--the Ewes--than the other--the Rams. As for the final revelation, have fun taking care of 200 Sheep at once.

[Via FarmVille Feed]

Have you been gifted a uniquely-colored Sheep? What do you think of the fact that now it has a genealogy of illegitimacy? Will you keep the tainted lovechild?