Babydoll Sheep

 

Olde English Babydoll Southdown Sheep

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The Southdown sheep is one of the oldest English sheep breeds and originated in the South Downs of Sussex, England. They were naturally small animals but were hardy and able to thrive on poor land. They produced well-flavoured meat, being heavier in the hindquarters, and gave excellent quality wool.

They are believed to have been taken to the English Colonies by 1640, with some historians claiming that they first arrived in Virginia in 1609. England tried to prevent the development of the wool trade in America, but the Americans persisted. Massachusetts ordained that young people must learn to spin and weave, I suppose to ensure that the nascent wool trade would grow.

By the end of the 17^th century, the English were so incensed at America exporting American woollen goods that they made sheep-trading and the manufacture of wool illegal. The punishment for breaking the law was the amputation of the miscreant’s right hand. The consequence was that spinning or weaving wool became a symbol of patriotism and pride.

The law became one of the causes of the American War of Independence, from 1775 to 1783, which ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on 4^th July, 1776, though it took another seven years for the British to accept defeat and acknowledge the former colony’s independence.

 Meanwhile, in Britain in 1780, a man called John Ellman was working to standardise the Southdown breed and improve its rate of growth and meat production. By the end of the century, they became important in the development of the other downs breeds, the Suffolk, Hampshire, Oxford, Shropshire and Dorset Down.

There was a decline in numbers after the First World War and by the end of the Second World War, they almost died out completely. People wanted larger cuts of meat and so the smaller Southdowns were crossed with the larger New Zealand Southdown, in 1960s America, resulting in bigger sheep, now known as American Southdowns. About twenty years later, the same exercise was repeated in the UK.

 Back in America, about 1990, a man called Robert Mock was determined to find the original small sheep. He called them Olde English Babydoll Southdowns, to mark the difference between them and the modern Southdown sheep. Since then, the breed has flourished in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and was reintroduced to the UK at the beginning of the 21^st century, though numbers remain small. Ewes often give birth to twins, and sometimes triplets.

These docile little sheep come in two colours, black and white, and produce fine wool that bears close comparison to cashmere and is much prized by spinners. It can also be blended with angora wool, either from rabbits or goats.

Fully-grown, they are about the same height as a Border collie.

 People often keep a couple as pets – as herd animals, they must have the companionship of their own kind - but they are also used in orchards and vineyards, to crop the grass and spread their fertiliser. Babydoll sheep are said to resemble teddy bears and are easy to handle. They are naturally polled but can give a good headbutt if so minded.