Breed Standard

In 1780 John Ellman from Glynde England took the local sheep known as Southdown sheep and systematically selected , developed and standardized them into what we now recognize as the considerably improved 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.

Breeding Standards and Practices author Valerie Porter writes, "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 believes in maintaining the integrity and work that Ellman began and to honor his work by keeping the Southdown conformation without crossing or breeding a runt to runt.

While reading the following information about Babydoll Southdown conformation a clear understanding of the difference between Discriminated Against and Disqualifying is important.

Discriminated against means the animal meets the breed standard but has a specific characteristic, which is not ideal. If bred to an animal whose strong points complements the others weakness, they often produce a lamb with better qualities then the parents.

Disqualifying means a specific quality does not meet the breed standard and animals with the quality cannot be registered and therefore should not be used in a pure bred breeding program. In a well thought out breeding program genetic variation will occur, however it is the breeder's obligation to weed out animals with poor conformation or undesirable traits and there-by improve the breed as a whole.

The General Character and Appearance of the BABYDOLL Sheep:
Babydoll Southdown sheep are known for easy handling and docile dispositions. They are nurturing mothers. Their small size and easy keeping metabolism requires less acreage per animal compared to other breeds. Thus they are referred to as being
"Easy Keepers."

Babydoll Southdown's are primarily used as grass mowers, pets, 4H, and show projects in both conformation and wool. The Babydoll Southdown is also known for its excellent carcass quality and flavorful meat and is often crossed on light breeds to produce lambs with better carcass characteristics for market.

HEAD
The characteristics of the head give each breed its individuality and uniqueness. The Babydoll Southdown is polled (hornless).The head is medium length and moderately broad, but not so broad to be a birthing obstruction, with medium length.

MUZZLE and FACE
The muzzle and face should be moderate in width to insure efficient grazing and moderate in length, straight to slightly dished but not Roman. ( Arched) The wide muzzle gives the Babydoll sheep its classic Smiling look and also makes it an efficient grazer.

COLOR of the HAIR on the FACE and LEGS of an OFF-WHITE SHEEP
Color of the hair on the muzzle and lower legs on the off-white sheep should be a shade from light tan to cinnamon brown to dark gray brown with even colors preferred.

However, mixtures of similar shades are acceptable on the face and legs as long they are blended and NOT distinct patches of black and white with defined margins or solid bright white, lacking any pigmented color at all.

The short colored hair on the face 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 and the wool on the cheeks, forehead and around the eyes should not be so long as to obstruct vision.

COLOR of the HAIR ON FACE and LEGS of a BLACK SHEEP
Hair of the Muzzle and lower Legs on a black or black and white fleeced sheep should be Solid Black. Scattered gray hairs may develop on muzzles in older black faced sheep.

WOOL
The Wool covering around the eyes and cheeks to the muzzle should be short and not so thick to ever cause the sheep to be wool blind. Tear ducts should not be over wooly.

The wool 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 century's. Some terms to understand:
Staple length = the length of a fiber not stretched of 12 months growth Crimp = waves in the individual fiber.
The closer and smaller the waves the softer the fiber, the larger and farther apart the coarser the fiber.
The Term Blood was to interpret fineness displayed in fractions.
Spin count = measurements of spun yarn on a wool skein Microns = a minute measurement

Most old type Southdown’s, that is, off White Babydoll Southdown's are evaluated as having wool as ½ to 3/8 Blood

½ 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 2.5 to 3" staple length.

3/8 Blood translates to a 58 spin count and a 24.5 to 26.5 micron fiber with medium crimp and 2.5 to 3.5" staple length

Many of our Black Babydoll Southdown's are ¼ blood which is coarser then white fleeces with a 27 to 31 micron count, medium coarse crimp and 2.5 to 4" staple length.

White wool is more valuable because it can be dyed any color. Even sheep with very dark face coloring often produce fleece with dark fibers making their fleece less valuable. Solid colored black or dark gray are interesting natural colors for spinners but spotted fleeces are generally undesirable.

Babydoll Southdowns should be shown in short fitted fleece.

ACCEPTABLE COLOR VARIATIONS IN FLEECE (solid colors preferred)
1. OFF-WHITE SHEEP
Sheep with off-white fleece will have muzzle and leg hair of a shade of light tan to cinnamon browns to mousy gray browns, with even colors preferred.
2. COLORED SHEEP:
a. Solid color Black or Dark Gray fleeced sheep will have solid colored black face and leg hair similar to the color of their fleece as a lamb.
Black fleeces may fade to shades of gray as the sheep ages. Black fleeces generally sunburn to having a chocolate color on tips of fleece. Dark black or dark gray colored fleeces are preferred over very light gray.
b. Primarily Black fleeced Sheep with White patches that have defined margins in its Fleece will have muzzle and leg hair of solid black and noses may show some graying with age.
(Any face or leg hair that shows distinct black and white patches is a breed disqualification.)
c. Sheep with black faces and legs and light gray colored wool is discriminated against
d. Sheep with black faces and legs and white wool is a breed disqualification
ACCEPTABLE FLEECE COLORS
Off-white
Black, which may fade to Gray
Black with White patches
The genetics of color markings in the Down breeds is poorly explained and the intensity of color in the points (face and legs) varies and seems to be under pretty complicated and likely polygenetic control. Thus the results of breeding Black to the traditional off White fleeced sheep or even Black to Black sometimes gives a variety of results in the coloration of the face and legs which may or may not fit the breed standard when evaluated with fleece color.
Resulting Examples:
Lambs with mottled blends of browns and white face and leg hair. This color mixture is acceptable but not as desirable as solid tan coloring
Lambs with black face and leg hair having light gray or mottled gray wool is discriminated against
White sheep with tan muzzles and legs having lots of small black or gray spots in the otherwise white fleece is discriminated against
Black faced sheep with primarily black wool and some white patches in fleece is discriminated against
White sheep having pure white faces and legs lacking any pigment is a disqualification and these sheep may not be registered
Lambs with black faces and leg hair with off white wool is a disqualification and these sheep may not be registered.
Tan faced sheep with predominately white fleeces that have several large black patches of wool is a disqualification,
SPOTS IN FLEECE
Some lambs may be born with what appears to be spots, but which grow out and fade usually by 6 months of age. These sheep would not be considered Spotted.
If an otherwise solid white or solid black sheep has only one contrasting colored spot or patch in the fleece that goes the length of the fiber and is smaller than a grapefruit in size, this is considered a blemish in the fleece and might be considered a fault in the show ring.
A true Spotted Fleeced Sheep will have several contrasting colored spots or patches in their fleece where the color or lack of color remains in the fleece fiber from skin outward in the adult animal.
Solid colored fleeces are more desirable and are more valuable then are spotted fleeces. Spotted fleeces are undesirable in this breed and are discriminated against. It is recommended that breeders with spotted fleeced sheep try to breed this tendency out.
EARS
Ears are of medium thickness, moderate in length, level with the poll, neither drooping or perpendicular to the ground. They should be proportionate to the head and preferably covered with wool. Short rough hair is acceptable, slick ears are discriminated against. Black or brown-specked ear skin is common. Nose and lip leather should be black, dark to light gray or blue and speckles are common. Solid bright pink without any pigmentation is discriminated against.
EYES Eyes should large bright, brown to yellow.
INCISOR TEETH Incisor teeth should meet the dental pad.
NECK
The neck is moderately long and upright, wide at the base, flow smoothly into the shoulders, with skin free of wrinkles.
FORE QUARTERS: SHOULDERS, BACK AND LOIN
SHOULDERS
Shoulders should be well muscled, and flow smoothly into the ribs, often expressed as being "well laid into the ribs" and level with the back. The width at the shoulders should be less than the width at the hips to facilitate easy lambing.
Excessively flat and wide topped shoulders are discriminated against.
BACK
The back is somewhat longer than the animal is tall, with more than one half the overall length in the hind saddle as measured from the dock to the 13th rib. The back should be level front to rear and from shoulder to tail head with very little slope of the croup
LOIN The loin should be long, wide and thick.
RIBS The ribs should be deep, wide, thick through the heart girth and well sprung
HINDQUARTERS: RUMP, FEET and LEGS
Short and straight legs should stand squarely at each corner. Rear legs should stand wide but squarely under the sheep with some angulation of the stifle and hocks and slight angulation of the pasterns
HINDQUARTERS
The hindquarters should be wider than the forequarters and have good width between the hip bones.
RUMP The rump should be wide and of medium length and relatively flat.
UDDER The Udder should be wide and well attached with two teats .Extra teats are discriminated against
TAIL
The tail head carriage should be high in a line level to the chin when the sheep is standing in a natural alert stance.
THIGHS and TWIST
The Thighs and twist should show deep and heavy muscling.
HOOF
The hoof color should be black or gray and may have white stripes. Solid white hoofs are a disqualification.
SIZE including UNDER AND OVERSIZED SHEEP
All measurements are at the shoulder and perpendicular to the ground on shorn sheep.
Babydoll Southdown sheep should be from 18-24" tall.
Most Babydoll Ewes fall into 20"-23" range and most Rams 22-24" range
Sheep 17-18" or 24-26" will be faulted but may still be useful in a well thought out breeding program.
A sheep less then 17" or taller then 26" is disqualified and may not be registered and may not be shown as a Babydoll Southdown.

GENERAL
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 on good pasture, with exception of during lactation, and lambs in their first 6 months. 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. Breed integrity should be up-held above all.
Rams look more masculine and are usually larger than ewes. They should be rectangular looking, on a moderate frame.
Ewes should have a broad well attached, but not pendulous udder. She should be capable of producing and raising twins. With good care many ewes will be productive for 8-10 years

TRAITS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST (considered a fault)
Sheep will be faulted for heights over 24"and to 26" or shorter than 17 to 18".
Excessively Wide Flat-Topped Shoulders
Extremely Broad Heads
Loosely Attached or nubby Scurs
Bright Pink Nostrils
Slick Ears
Wool blindness
Wooly tear ducts
Excessive wrinkles
Spotted fleeces
Black faced sheep with very light gray fleece
Extra teats
Entropion (inverted eye lids)
Slight under or over bite, with teeth just barely touching the edge of the dental pad
Note on size: Heights 24-26" and 17-18" are discouraged, and are considered faults. A Babydoll Southdown registration will not be denied, but breeding a sheep with height faults is discouraged.
DISQUALIFICATIONS
Sheep smaller then 17" or larger then 26"
Solid 1" or larger scurs or horns
One or both testicles not descended
Pure white muzzle and leg hair
Solid White hooves
Severe under or over bite, with distinct space between teeth and edge of dental pad.
Pronounced Roman nose
Evidence of cross breeding
Face or leg hair that has colored patches with distinct margins between two colors.
Black faced sheep with off white fleece
Tan faced sheep with several large patches of black in predominantly white fleeces

Breeding Practices: The following Scale of Points to be used in judging the conformation of a Babydoll Sheep and should be considered when breeding.