A question we are often asked is, "Babydolls are just small Southdowns, aren't they?"

And the answer that often surprises people is, "No, they're not."

 

I think the best way this was explained to me, was by a renowned Southdown breeder, who said Babydolls are just "one snippet of time" of the Southdown. And that is totally correct. Just a small part of the Southdown's evolution. ​

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The Southdown sheep has gone through many stages to become the prime terminal sire and meat sheep of today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the light speckle-faced mottled sheep to the larger well muscled Southdown, improved by John Ellman,

to the short, woolly little Southdown of the mid 90's, to the less woolly, longer and taller terminal sire of today, the Southdown has evolved to meet the demands of the meat market.​

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But this evolution has taken decades of selective breeding and to think we can just breed smaller versions of today's Modern Southdowns in one or two generations does not work. Yes, you will get the occasional fluke, but the offspring will not continually breed true to the Babydoll Breed Standard. Hence, why the Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association requires Modern Southdowns crossed with Babydolls to go through the Appendix Register before inspection to be placed on the Full Register. That is the minimum time required to cement those traits into the cross. To reduce the length of leg and neck, to add the woolly face and legs, to decrease the back length into the more compact Babydoll shape. These things don't happen in one generation, so a Babydoll graded up with a "small" Southdown is treated like a Babydoll graded up with any other breed. A separate Register means a separate breed, and breeding one to the other results in a cross-bred. 

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And ask yourself, why is someone selling a "small" Southdown as a stud animal? Is it a runt that hasn't grown properly? Are they breeding Babydolls and it has grown too big? What size are the sire and dam? If you were buying a dog and wanted to breed Toy Poodles, you wouldn't buy a small Standard Poodle to start your breeding program, so why would you do it with sheep? 

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It's not hard to look at the photos above and see on which "snippet of time" the Babydoll is based, and why it takes a few generations to go back from the Modern Southdown to the Babydoll type. And honestly, when you can buy pure Babydolls, why would you want to?

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If you want to breed Southdowns, breed Southdowns. If you want to breed Babydolls, breed Babydolls, but there is no need to confuse people by crossing them and calling the offspring anything other than a crossbred.

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No. Babydolls are not small Modern Southdowns. They are just Babydolls, and as breeders of these beautiful sheep we will stick to keeping them pure.

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