Southdown Babydoll Sheep
Meet the Babydolls
Southdown Babydoll Sheep are the true teddy bears of the farm yard. They originate in England and are one of the oldest breeds dating back to the late 1700s. Babydolls have a life expectancy of about 12-16 years. They are the smallest breed of sheep getting to be roughly 21 inches tall at the back and weighing about 75lbs. Southdown babydoll sheep have several different uses on the farm. They are great grazers for orchards and vineyards because they don’t eat the bark off the trunks like goats will do. They have amazing wool that is very similar to cashmere so they are a popular breed among wool spinners and crafters. Some people even use them for milk and meat.
babydoll sheep grow wool everywhere and need to be sheared once a year along with a foot trim. Other than that they are low maintenance but keep them away from copper because they can easily get copper toxicity from cattle and goat minerals.
About our Sheep
Just like all of our other animals our sheep get health tested once a year through blood work. We will run a few different disease tests on them but the most important one is for johnes. Johnes is a deadly wasting away disease that can live in the ground for almost a year. Sheep commonly carry johnes and will look perfectly healthy until about 3 years old. At that point they start to loose weight and continue downhill from there. By the time johnes has started to show signs in the flock it has already contaminated the ground and other animals. There is no cure for johnes so it is important to not introduce it to the farm in the first place. Johnes can also be carried and spread by other livestock as well like cattle and goats. It is important to quarantine any animal that has not been tested for the disease.
Our sheep are registered with NABSSAR.
