In 1780, John Ellman from Glyde, England, took the local sheep known as Southdown and systematically selected, developed and standardized them into what we now recognize as the considerably improved Babydoll Southdown; a breed that was destined to make its name a presence in sheep farming across the world because of Master Breeder John Ellman's work. In her book, author Valerie Porter wrote, "John Ellman once said, that it was more difficult to maintain a good breed than to raise it to first class and he bequeathed to today's breeders the challenge of continuing what he began." The NABSSAR agrees with this philosophy and believes that today's breeders should maintain the integrity and work that Mr. Ellman began and continue to honor his work by keeping the Southdown conformation consistent - without crossbreeding or breeding lesser quality animals. Not every Babydoll Southdown lamb that is born should be allowed into a breeding program. Breeders must know what characteristics to look for and carefully choose their breeding stock. That is why we at NABSSAR believe that breeders should take the time to educate themselves by carefully reading and learning the breed standard.

When learning about the NABSSAR breed standard, a clear understanding of the difference between the terms: "Discriminated Against" and "Disqualifying" is important. These terms are defined as such:

• "Discriminated Against," means the animal meets the breed standard, but has a specific characteristic that is not ideal. These animals can be bred to others that have strong points that complement the other's weakness - the intentions resulting in a lamb with better qualities than the parents.

• "Disqualifying," means a specific quality does not meet the breed standard and animals with this quality cannot be registered. Therefore, these sheep should not be used in a purebred breeding program. In a well thought out breeding program, genetic variation will occur. However, it is the breeder's obligation to weed out (cull) animals with poor conformation or undesirable traits thereby improving the breed as a whole.

Please note that when the terms fleece and wool are used, fleece refers to what is on the animal and wool is the product made from the fleece.

GENERAL CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE OF BABYDOLL SHEEP

Babydoll Southdown sheep are known for their docile dispositions. For this reason, they are often kept as pets, but they are also used in a variety of ways such as grass mowers and weed eaters in vineyards and orchards and 4H projects. They are small in stature and are easy to handle. Their small size and efficient metabolism requires less acreage per animal compared to other breeds of sheep. Thus, they are referred to as being "easy keepers." They are excellent mothers and are known for having multiple births. The Babydoll Southdown is known for its abundant carcass (relative to its size) and flavorful meat and is crossbred with lighter weight breeds of sheep to produce lambs of higher quality for market. They are also prized for their wool.

Head:
The characteristics of the head give each breed its individuality and uniqueness. The Babydoll Southdown's head should be wide and level between the ears, with no sign of a dark poll as the Babydoll is a polled (hornless) breed. Small, loosely attached or nubby scurs are sometimes seen on rams, which are considered a fault and discriminated against. Solid 1" or larger scurs or horns are a disqualification. The head is medium length and moderately broad, but not so broad to be a birthing obstruction. Extremely broad heads are considered a fault and discriminated against. The ears set level with the head, neither drooping nor so upright they are perpendicular to the ground and should be covered with some degree of fleece.

Muzzle & Face:
The muzzle is the area on the face that is covered with short fuzzy fleece and hair that is a shade from very light tan to brown to cinnamon to mousy gray color in the off-white fleeced sheep and black color in the black-fleeced sheep. The muzzle should be moderate in width to ensure efficient grazing, as well as moderate in length. It should be straight to slightly dished, but not Roman (arched) which is a breed disqualification. The wide muzzle gives the Babydoll sheep its classic smiling look and also makes it an efficient grazer.

Nose & Lips:
The nose and lip leather should be black, dark to light gray or bluish gray. Speckles are common and are acceptable but solid colors are preferred. Bright solid pink nose and lips, as are those without any pigmentation (pale white), are both breed disqualifications and the sheep cannot be registered. Please note that lambs often are born with pink noses and coloring will come with time.

Ears:
The ears should be of medium thickness and moderate in length. They should be level with the poll (top of the head) - neither drooping nor perpendicular to the ground. The size should be in proportion to the head and covered with fleece. Short, rough hair is acceptable. However, slick ears are discriminated against. Black or brown-specked ear skin is common.

Eyes:
The eyes should be large and bright. Their color should either be yellow or brown. Entropion, which is inverted eyelids, is discriminated against.

Incisor Teeth:
The incisor teeth should meet the dental pad. Sheep with a slight under or overbite with teeth just barely touching the edge of the dental pad are discriminated against; whereas, a sheep with a severe under or overbite, with distinct space between teeth and edge of dental pad is a breed disqualification.

Neck:
The neck should be moderately long and upright, wide at the base and flow smoothly into the shoulders without wrinkles in the skin.

Carriage:
The legs should be short and straight and should stand squarely at each corner of the sheep's body. Rear legs should stand wide, but squarely under the sheep with a slight angle of the stifle and hocks and a slight angle of the pastern.

Shoulders:
The shoulders should be well muscled and flow smoothly into the ribs. This is often expressed as being "well laid into the ribs." They should also be level with the back. The width at the shoulders should be less than the width at the hips to facilitate easy lambing. Excessively wide, flat-topped shoulders are discriminated against.

Back:
The back should be somewhat longer than the animal is tall. The combined length of measurements of the loin and the hind saddle should be slightly longer than the measurement of the shoulder to the last rib.

Loin:
The loin should be long, wide and thick.

Ribs:
The ribs should be deep and wide, thick through the heart girth and well sprung.

Rump:
The rump should be wide, of medium length, and relatively flat.

Tail:
The tail head carriage should be high and in a line level to the chin when the sheep is standing in a natural alert stance.

Hindquarters:
The hindquarters should be wider than the forequarters and have good width between the hipbones.

Thighs & Twist:
The thighs and twist should show deep and heavy muscling.

Rear Legs:
The rear legs should stand wide, but squarely under the sheep with a slight angle of the stifle and hocks and a slight angle of the pastern.

Hooves:
The hoof color should be black or gray and may have white stripes. Solid white hooves are a disqualification.

Height:
All measurements are at the highest point of the middle of the shoulder and perpendicular to the ground on a sheep that has been shorn. Adult sheep should be between 18-24" tall. Most Babydoll ewes fall into the 20-23" range and most rams into the 22-24" range. Sheep 17-18" or 24-26" are discriminated against, but can be useful in a well thought out breeding program. A sheep shorter than 17" or taller than 26" will be disqualified. These sheep may not be registered or shown as a Babydoll Southdown.

Skin:
Of a delicate gray to bright pink on off-white sheep and of dark tones on black sheep.

Fleece:
The fleece and hair covering around the eyes and cheeks to the muzzle should be short and not so thick as to ever cause the sheep to be "wool blind." Tear ducts should not be too woolly. Both "wool blindness" and woolly tear ducts are discriminated against. Fleece should be fine, tight and dense with medium to medium-fine crimp that is soft and springy.

Wool has been evaluated several ways over the centuries. Here are some of the terms used when speaking about wool and its qualities:

Most old-type Southdowns - by this we mean the off-white Babydoll Southdowns - are evaluated as having wool that is 1/2 to 3/8 blood.

• 1/2 blood translates to a 60 to 62-skein spin count and a fiber of 22.5 to 25 microns in diameter, with medium-fine crimp and a 2.5 to 3" staple length

• 3/8 blood translates to a 58-skein spin count and a fiber of 24.5 to 26.5 micron in diameter, with medium crimp and 2.5 to 3.5" staple length

Many of the black Babydoll Southdowns are 1/4 blood, which means that they have coarser fleece than the off-white Southdowns. They usually have a 27 to 31 micron count, medium-coarse crimp and 2.5 to 4" staple length.

White/Off-White
The typical Babydoll Southdown is an off-white color with muzzle and legs that is a shade from very light tan to brown to cinnamon to mousy gray. White and off-white are terms that are often used interchangeably - some people refer to these sheep as "white" while others refer to them as "off-white." However, the NABSSAR breed standard considers them off-white.

• The color of the muzzle and legs of an off-white sheep should be some shade from very light tan to brown to cinnamon to mousy gray. Mottled shades of these colors are accepted, but even colors are preferred. The short colored fleece and hair on the muzzle should ideally cover the entire muzzle and extend from the corners of the mouth to a rounded point between the eyes on the adult sheep.

• If a sheep has predominately bright white fleece everywhere on its body including the fleece and hair on the muzzle and/or legs this is a breed disqualification. These sheep cannot be registered.

Black
Black is the color of the fleece at skin level in the lamb. Sometimes this color will fade to lighter shades of gray as the sheep ages, but it is still considered a black sheep. In some sheep, the sun may bleach the outer fleece to a light reddish brown color. This is only sun bleaching and is NOT considered a color.

• The muzzle and legs of a black sheep should always be black.

• The muzzle of a black sheep often get scattered gray hairs as they age.

ACCEPTABLE FLEECE COLORS:

• Off-white fleeced sheep that have muzzles and legs that are a shade from very light tan to brown to cinnamon to mousy gray. Mottled shades of these colors (i.e. light and dark brown) are accepted but even colors are preferred.

• Black fleeced sheep are born with black fleece, muzzle and legs.  Over time, the fleece should remain black to a medium gray at skin level, but a very light gray fleece will be faulted. The outer fleece on a black sheep may become sun bleached to a light reddish brown, but the sheep is still considered to be black.

NOTE: A blemish is considered a fault, but the sheep can be registered. Sheep of either color that are born with one 4-inch or less area of a contrasting color anywhere on the body are considered to have a "blemish."

UNACCEPTABLE FLEECE COLORS:

• Off-white fleeced sheep with a black muzzle and/or legs is a breed disqualification and the sheep cannot be registered.

• Black-fleeced sheep with an off-white muzzle and/or legs is a breed disqualification and the sheep cannot be registered.

• Bright white-fleeced sheep that have predominately bright white fleece on their body including the fleece and hair on the muzzle and/or legs is a breed disqualification. These sheep cannot be registered.

• Spotted: a predominately off-white fleeced or black-fleeced sheep that has a contrasting color with distinct margins anywhere on its fleece OR one area of contrasting color larger than 4-inches in diameter with distinct margins between the two colors. This coloration is a breed disqualification and these sheep cannot be registered.

Rams:
Rams should look more masculine and are usually larger than ewes. They should be rectangular looking on a moderate frame. They must have both testicles descended. If one or both are not, it is a breed disqualification and the ram cannot be registered.

Ewes:
Ewes should have a broad, well-attached, but not pendulous udder with two teats. She should be capable of producing and raising twins.

Udder:
The udder should be wide and well attached with two teats. Extra teats are discriminated against.

NOTES: Rams and ewes should move with freedom of gait and remain active and sound for 8-10 years. Properly managed ewes and rams should be easy keepers and maintain thrifty condition without grain if kept on good quality pasture or hay with the exception of ewes that are lactating and lambs that are in their first six months of life. When selecting replacement-breeding stock, consider selecting for sheep with the genetics to produce sound conformation that provides easy keeping and easy birthing abilities to their offspring. Breeding for undersized sheep often produces poorly muscled and unthrifty lambs. Breeding integrity is of utmost importance.

SUMMARY

There are two types of "Faults" when judging the Babydoll Southdown, CONFORMATION FAULTS and BREED TYPE FAULTS. A good way to describe this is that conformation or structural faults are generally more serious as they affect function and reproduction. Breed type faults are more about looks, color, loose scurs, or spots. Faults can be described as very mild and hardly noticeable to severe or disqualifying faults, one reason for the point system and how it is used when judging a sheep for overall conformation and breed type. There are very few "perfect" Babydoll Southdowns; most have their strong points and their weak points. Careful selection of breeding stock will improve the breed as a whole.

DISCRIMINATED AGAINST (CONSIDERED A FAULT)

Extremely broad heads Loosely attached or nubby scurs Slick ears Entropion (inverted eye lids) Wool blindness Woolly tear ducts Slight under or overbite, with teeth just barely touching the edge of the dental pad Excessive wrinkles Excessively wide, flat-topped shoulders Sheep heights 17-18" or 24-26" Extra teats A blemish in the fleece Black faced sheep with very light gray fleece

DISQUALIFICATIONS

Evidence of cross breeding Solid 1" or larger scurs or horns Roman nose Bright solid pink nose and lips, as are those without any pigmentation (pale white) Severe under or overbite, with distinct space between teeth and edge of dental pad Solid white hooves Sheep shorter than 17" or taller than 26" One or both testicles not descended Off-white fleeced sheep with a black muzzle and/or legs Black-fleeced sheep with an off-white muzzle and/or legs Bright white-fleeced sheep A predominately off-white fleeced or black-fleeced sheep that has a contrasting color with distinct margins anywhere on its fleece OR one area of contrasting color larger than 4-inches in diameter with distinct margins between the two colors