Animals & Breeding

We have a few purebred Babydoll ewes, but have concentrated on investing in high quality Babydoll rams to put over our ewes. Babydolls are the Shetland Pony of the sheepworld, small, cute, with distinctive “smiling teddy bear” faces and are amazing at converting grass, causing them to be prone to getting fat. Originally known as Southdown sheep, they date back to England in the 1700s. However, after WW2, there began to be a focus on bigger sheep with leaner meat, and Southdowns started being crossed with other breeds to create a larger more commercial sheep. By the 1980s the little original sheep were almost extinct. However, they were saved by a dedicated American livestock enthusiast named Robert Mock. Beginning in the mid-80s he spent years searching the US for sheep with the original 1700s bloodlines, and eventually located around 350 of these sheep. To differentiate these smaller heritage sheep from the modern larger Southdowns Robert named them, “Olde English Babydoll Southdowns”, and set up a registry to preserve the purity of his foundation stock. Today, thanks to these efforts, Babydolls are making a comeback. They are very popular as pets due to their docile natures, and their small size has made them popular for use as a “green solution” to weeds on organic vineyards and orchards.