Many people have contacted me asking lots of similar questions about Southdown Sheep. I have put together this FAQ...some may not agree with the answers I give, but these are my opinions.

1.) Whats the difference between "American" and "Babydoll" Southdown Sheep?Are the babydolls a dwarf or miniature? 

NO! Just the opposite is true, in fact! The sheep we call American Style are actually bred up from the original small english Southdown sheep. Over the years the sheep were bred to be tall and lean, much like the show sheep we see today. You can look back to old photos from the 60's of Southdown show sheep and see the original small size. Many of the old type flocks of Southdowns were lost in this modernization process. In the early 1990's some original type Southdowns were located and renamed "Olde English Babydolls". True, some do refer to them as "miniature" but that is partly due to their small size. Babydolls should NOT be dwarfs or runts! 

2.) I've heard babydolls can be unhealthy...what health issues do they have?

Since babydolls bring such a good price, much like some purebred dogs, people want a return on their investment, so they turn to breeding. Unfortunately, sometimes they don't select the best breeding stock, either because they don't care ("oh, they are just SHEEP..." ) or plain ignorance. It is important for breeders to understand structure and function and understand what good conformation is as well as be able to accurately interpret the breed standard. Some management issues we see are ringwomb or false ringwomb (requiring ewes to have a C-section), Foot Rot (seen more in climates where it is very wet), and CAE (contagious abcesses). Some genetic issues we see are poor structure, bad bite occlusion, undecended testicles in rams, entropion (turning in of the eyelid) and recently, rumen issues such as cud spitting. Careful selection and culling of breeding stock can go a long way to curing these problems. Babydolls are a very old breed of sheep, one of the first to come here from England, and they SHOULD be very healthy thru years of natural selection.

3.) What can you do with a Southdown Sheep?

Just about anything you want! Most people keep them as pets or fuel efficient lawnmowers. There are many flocks of southdowns grazing orchards and California vineyards. They are a very docile breed and make wonderful childrens pets and 4H projects. The wool is in the class of cashmere and is often used for blending with various fibers due to its strength. Also, though many do not want to admit it, Southdowns are originally a meat breed. They should have a strong sturdy frame with good muscling and a delicate flavor. 

4.) Whats the deal with the two registry's...is one better than the other one? 

Around 1990, when small flocks of the original smaller type Southdowns were gathered up and labeled Olde English Babydoll Southdowns, a sole proprietorship registry was formed to register these sheep. Numbers grew and eventually some Babydoll Southdown Sheep fanciers envisioned a publicly-owned, board-governed Association and Registry to educate and share information and to encourage members to work together for the good of the breed.  On June 10, 2003, the North American Babydoll Southdown Association and Registry was formed and became certified as a non-profit corporation.  NABSSARs goal is to preserve the Southdown type and characteristics as received in the United States in the 1800s, only differing in the inclusion of solid-colored Southdowns as well as the original, self-colored white Southdowns into the registry. One registry is not better than the other one, but they ARE different. I encourage you to research the two registrys and see which is a better fit for you. Or, as some people still do, dual register the sheep. My sheep are all registered in NABSSAR, but many carry the original OEBR papers.

5.) How do I choose good breeding stock? Let's talk conformation...

First and foremost, we need to look to the breed standard for these sheep. SMALL IS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR! Continuing to breed runts to runts to get a smaller sheep is the worst thing we can do. You can see the breed standard on the babydoll southdown page, but some of the most important things I look for are a nice strong, level topline, a well muscled animal with a "leg at each corner", nice straight front legs, and I personally prefer a cleaner faced sheep. Wool blindness is a real managment issue. Its cute until you have to shear a sheeps face a few times a year. I also prefer a sheep at the upper end of the height scale...around 22 inches. We don't all have sheep with perfect conformation, but you can match up ewes and rams that complement each others strengths and faults accordingly. For example, I have a few ewes who are a little wool blind for my taste, if I breed them to a more open faced ram, the lambs should come out less wooly. I may select my replacement ewe lambs from this bunch and cull the older, more wooly ewes. You can offset the weak areas in your flock this way, and improve the overall conformation of your sheep.

6.) Black sheep, spotted sheep, and other crossbreds...keeping pure white pure.

I've seen it...you have probably seen it too. Crossbred sheep advertised as pure babydolls. In these days of the internet we can see pictures of peoples breeding stock and all I have to say is "yikes!!" The following are things I have either personally seen or heard about on my surfing of the w w w...black and white spotted (all over) sheep, sheep with horns (eek), very clean headed sheep (Cheviot style), and black sheep with blaze (white) faces. People, these are not pure babydolls!! Another problem is black sheep. Oh, I love a little black lamb, and I have black sheep, so don't get me wrong here, but Southdowns were NEVER black. American Southdown registrys never allowed black sheep to be registered, thus they were bred out. Now, the Babydoll registrys do accept black sheep, and spotted fleece sheep, but we should work to keep PURE WHITE southdown lines pure, keeping black sheep seperate and breeding them seperate. I am not saying never breed a white sheep to a black sheep, but if we are not careful, we are going to lose our genepool of old world white sheep. Something to consider.

7.) Nutrition and other managment concerns

Another problem I have seen is overweight sheep. Babydolls are very easy keepers. However, because of their pet status, people tend to feed them little treats to make them tame. That is fine in moderation. Sheep are smarter than we think they are and they are very good at exploiting us, "their humans". "BAA BAA BAA...we are so hungry! We have not eaten in an hour!" and we feed them to shut them up. Obesity can be deadly to a pregnant ewe and her lambs. They generally do not need to be fed grain except during lactation. Sheep that get too fat may never breed even if you eventually get them to lose weight, and if they do breed when they are fat they will be susceptible to pregnancy toxemia or can abort the lambs. They also have trouble giving birth or the lambs grow too big inside them. Fat is just as unhealthy as thin!! 

To be continued...

If you have a suggestion for the FAQ...email me.

Casie Monge

Spokane Washington

(509) 939-4175

email me!!

shepherdess@woolridgesheep.com