Frequently asked questions
Are Babydoll Southdown's in Australia small because they are dwarfs?
No Babydolls in Australia have been bred to be small in height due to selective breeding over time.
They contain no dwarf gene in fact dwarfism in sheep is rare in Australia.
There is a clear difference between miniature sheep and dwarf sheep. But don't take my word for it—let's break it down:
Miniature Sheep
Definition: Breeds that are naturally small in stature due to selective breeding over generations.
Examples: Babydoll Southdown, Ouessant, Harlequin Mini Meat, Mini Cheviot.
Size: Typically, 17–24 inches tall and weighing 60–150 pounds. The Ouessant, the smallest breed, weighs just 35–50 pounds.
Purpose: Often bred for small-scale farming, wool production, or as pets. They are docile and easy to handle.
Traits: Proportionally small but healthy and normal in appearance.
Dwarf Sheep
Definition: Sheep exhibiting dwarfism, a genetic condition causing disproportionately short limbs or other traits.
Cause: Result of genetic mutations or developmental disorders, not selective breeding.
Traits: May have health issues or structural abnormalities depending on the type of dwarfism.
Use: Rarely bred intentionally; more often a result of genetic anomalies.
Key Distinction
Miniature sheep are small by design and breed standard, while dwarf sheep are small due to a genetic condition, not as a breed trait.
Beware of breeders or societies spreading misinformation! Babydolls in Australia are small thanks to selective breeding, not due to a dwarf gene.
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No Babydolls in Australia have been bred to be small in height due to selective breeding over time.
They contain no dwarf gene in fact dwarfism in sheep is rare in Australia.
There is a clear difference between miniature sheep and dwarf sheep. But don't take my word for it—let's break it down:
Miniature Sheep
Definition: Breeds that are naturally small in stature due to selective breeding over generations.
Examples: Babydoll Southdown, Ouessant, Harlequin Mini Meat, Mini Cheviot.
Size: Typically, 17–24 inches tall and weighing 60–150 pounds. The Ouessant, the smallest breed, weighs just 35–50 pounds.
Purpose: Often bred for small-scale farming, wool production, or as pets. They are docile and easy to handle.
Traits: Proportionally small but healthy and normal in appearance.
Dwarf Sheep
Definition: Sheep exhibiting dwarfism, a genetic condition causing disproportionately short limbs or other traits.
Cause: Result of genetic mutations or developmental disorders, not selective breeding.
Traits: May have health issues or structural abnormalities depending on the type of dwarfism.
Use: Rarely bred intentionally; more often a result of genetic anomalies.
Key Distinction
Miniature sheep are small by design and breed standard, while dwarf sheep are small due to a genetic condition, not as a breed trait.
Beware of breeders or societies spreading misinformation! Babydolls in Australia are small thanks to selective breeding, not due to a dwarf gene.
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2021 Ewe lamb
Coloured and Appendix ewes
Where did this breed originate from?
England: British breed and are classed as a meat sheep. The wool is classed as a down's wool. |
What height should a Babydoll be?
Currently, The Australian stud book ASSBA Babydoll breed standard has a height published at 45 to 61cm Babydoll sheep diet? Our sheep graze on pasture grasses. During the summer months when the grass is at its driest our sheep are fed a mixture of local WA sheep pellets and turned out on hay feeders containing our farm-grown meadow hay rolls. Why are Babydoll sheep used in vineyards and orchards? Sheep love vines and orchard leaves and babydolls are no exception. What makes them so different is their height and short length, due to this combination these little sheep find it quite difficult to reach up as high as the taller sheep breeds. Babydoll sheep gestation and how many lambs can they have? Our sheep have shown they range in gestation from 142-152 days with an average of 147 days. Babydoll ewes can have singles, twins or triplets even Quads. Babydoll sheep uses? Babydolls are classed as a meat sheep and were originally developed to provide a substantial amount of meat on a small, easy-to-handle sheep. When do babydoll ewes come into season? Babydolls are a British breed and therefore only breed when the days get shorter Typically that is between March to Sep sometimes longer depending on the state you are in. How do you know that your ewes are pregnant? During the breeding season, our rams are fitted with a mating mark ram harness with coloured chalk attached. This lets us know which ewes have been mated so we can determine what date an individual ewe will lamb. Ewes come into estrous every 17 days from March onward, so we change the ram's crayon colour every 17 days and any ewes that fail to get re-marked with a new colour are assumed pregnant. What do you use to measure their height? We use the Piccolo miniature horse measuring stick. It measures heights from 30 cm to 100 cm. . Do Babydolls have horns? No, they are naturally polled but they sometimes have small scurs. How long do Babydoll Southdown's live? Babydolls have a life expectancy between 10-16 years. Wethers typically live longer followed by ewes and rams. Do Babydoll sheep make good pets? Yes, they have lovely temperaments and respond well to human interaction. Babydoll lambs make great pets for children. Do we have any American Babydoll bloodlines in Australia No Although we have taken the name there is none of their genetics in Australia. Do we have any Olde English bloodlines in Australia? No this is also an American babydoll breed and we have none of these breeds genetics in Australia. Do you breed Southdown's to Babydolls NO We only use Babydoll Stud sheep in our stud flock. 
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Do babydoll sheep eat vine leaves ?
Absolutely! All sheep love to eat the vine leaves ,The only difference between a babydoll and a Merino for example is the height and structure of a babydoll makes it difficult for them to graze the higher vines as they find it difficult to stand on their back legs to reach .They will of course stand on any structure you can give them that will help them reach thou.
Do wethers,ewes or rams make the best pets ?
Wethers (Desexed/Castrated males) makes the best pets , Ewes can be temperamental and Rams are not suitable as pets
If i run my ewe lambs with my ram could they get pregnant early ?
Yes ,They can mate and fall pregnant at 8 months ,To avoid early pregnancies we recommend separating all rams and or Ram lambs from your ewe lambs until they mature. Some Babydolls ewes can be quite small at 8 months old.
Why do some Babydolls look like their legs are not straight?
as an adult
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 as a Lamb
DO BABYDOLLS HAVE KNOCK KNEES ? The way the wool is grown over the knees and the way the wool grows over the shoulders. This can give the impression of wonky front legs OR Knock Knees . These photos show the same ewe Tanjar Little Spice as an unshorn lamb and as an older ewe after shearing. As you can see, her legs are a lot straighter and they have gotten further apart as she has matured. |
Why do Babydolls look so different as they get older?
Babydoll lambs are born with the fluffy lower legs that are often a mousy-ginger colour.
They can have a lot of beard or only just a small amount, some of them are also born with quite woolly faces and woolly ears.
Because Babydolls require shearing they look a lot different once all their wool comes off.
The ewe below is Tanjar Little Bear as a lamb thru to an adult,
Babydoll lambs are born with the fluffy lower legs that are often a mousy-ginger colour.
They can have a lot of beard or only just a small amount, some of them are also born with quite woolly faces and woolly ears.
Because Babydolls require shearing they look a lot different once all their wool comes off.
The ewe below is Tanjar Little Bear as a lamb thru to an adult,
Do Babydolls need shearing? Yes Babydolls require shearing once per year. Their wool is quite short, they are not a self shedding breed. We have our Babydolls shorn in the months of August to October here in Western Australia.
Looking for a shearer? Click the link to go to our shearer's Facebook page www.facebook.com/yourlocalshearer/
Looking for a shearer? Click the link to go to our shearer's Facebook page www.facebook.com/yourlocalshearer/
What is the wool classed as?
Babydoll wool is classed as a downs wool and is often used in the carpet making sectors.
Wool short, dense and fine texture .Wool is covering the whole body down to the hocks and knees.
Babydoll wool is classed as a downs wool and is often used in the carpet making sectors.
Wool short, dense and fine texture .Wool is covering the whole body down to the hocks and knees.
Why do you shear your lambs faces?
Babydoll lambs are renowned for their wonderful woolly faces, this is one of the features of our Babydoll Sheep but woolly faces come summer also mean grass seeds.
To combat this, we have all our lambs' faces wigged (shorn) by our experienced NZ shearer.
This ensures our lambs don't get our WA grass seeds in their eyes. It makes the lamb look slightly less adorable, but it is essential for there everyday health and safety.
Babydoll lambs are renowned for their wonderful woolly faces, this is one of the features of our Babydoll Sheep but woolly faces come summer also mean grass seeds.
To combat this, we have all our lambs' faces wigged (shorn) by our experienced NZ shearer.
This ensures our lambs don't get our WA grass seeds in their eyes. It makes the lamb look slightly less adorable, but it is essential for there everyday health and safety.
Can babydoll sheep Get TOO FAT ?
Being a meat sheep and early maturing babydolls can get quite fat and often can paddle with their legs due to the short statue and wide loads ,Ewes that get to fat as hoggets can have fertility problems and lambing issues.
All these things can be corrected by maintaining good weights for both ewes and rams.
Being a meat sheep and early maturing babydolls can get quite fat and often can paddle with their legs due to the short statue and wide loads ,Ewes that get to fat as hoggets can have fertility problems and lambing issues.
All these things can be corrected by maintaining good weights for both ewes and rams.
Babydoll sheep care:
To ensure that our Babydolls get the best care year-round, they are routinely wormed on a rotation, targeting seasonal worms such as Barbers pole worm and using combination wormers to cover the other gastro-intestinal worms such as scour worm, brown stomach worm and tapeworms.
We vaccinate all lambs at 8-12 weeks of age with Ultra Vac 5 in 1 to prevent the major clostridial diseases in sheep, for the prevention of enterotoxaemia (pulpy kidney disease), tetanus, black disease, malignant oedema (blackleg-like disease) and blackleg including swelled head in rams. Lambs receive 1 ml in their first dose with a 2nd 1ml dose four weeks later.
Adults are vaccinated with 1 ml annually. Our breeding ewes also receive a pre-lambing vaccine one month before lambing to ensure their lambs are properly covered at birth.
All our stock are shorn once a year and back lined with Extinosad and treated with Clikzin .
We also mineral drench throughout the year to provide adequate mineral supplements to all our stock from lambs right through to mature ewes and rams, we also provide mineral blocks for everyday maintenance.
Following the Western Australian Department of Agriculture Livestock identification requirement, all our stock are tagged with a NLIS (National Livestock Identification System) tag which is colour coded for the year of birth (our Pic number is branded on the ear tag). Right ear for Females, Left ear for Males.
Ear tags are now the readable type so can be read by any handheld scanner for easy integration into your management program.
We routinely trim hooves. Heights are taken at 12 months old.
All our sheep are given selenium and cobalt pellets at 6 months old; the pellets are a sustained release supplement used to treat and prevent selenium and cobalt deficiency in sheep.
Our rams are Brucellosis Accredited which means they have tested negative to the Brucellosis disease.
Ovine brucellosis is an infection that can affect all breeds of sheep and is caused by a bacterium, Brucella ovis (B. ovis).
Infected rams become infertile.
We are part of the Ovine Brucellosis Accreditation Scheme (OBAS) No 605 our rams were blood tested Sep 2023, and all returned a negative result to B.Ovis(Not due again till Oct 2027)
To ensure that our Babydolls get the best care year-round, they are routinely wormed on a rotation, targeting seasonal worms such as Barbers pole worm and using combination wormers to cover the other gastro-intestinal worms such as scour worm, brown stomach worm and tapeworms.
We vaccinate all lambs at 8-12 weeks of age with Ultra Vac 5 in 1 to prevent the major clostridial diseases in sheep, for the prevention of enterotoxaemia (pulpy kidney disease), tetanus, black disease, malignant oedema (blackleg-like disease) and blackleg including swelled head in rams. Lambs receive 1 ml in their first dose with a 2nd 1ml dose four weeks later.
Adults are vaccinated with 1 ml annually. Our breeding ewes also receive a pre-lambing vaccine one month before lambing to ensure their lambs are properly covered at birth.
All our stock are shorn once a year and back lined with Extinosad and treated with Clikzin .
We also mineral drench throughout the year to provide adequate mineral supplements to all our stock from lambs right through to mature ewes and rams, we also provide mineral blocks for everyday maintenance.
Following the Western Australian Department of Agriculture Livestock identification requirement, all our stock are tagged with a NLIS (National Livestock Identification System) tag which is colour coded for the year of birth (our Pic number is branded on the ear tag). Right ear for Females, Left ear for Males.
Ear tags are now the readable type so can be read by any handheld scanner for easy integration into your management program.
We routinely trim hooves. Heights are taken at 12 months old.
All our sheep are given selenium and cobalt pellets at 6 months old; the pellets are a sustained release supplement used to treat and prevent selenium and cobalt deficiency in sheep.
Our rams are Brucellosis Accredited which means they have tested negative to the Brucellosis disease.
Ovine brucellosis is an infection that can affect all breeds of sheep and is caused by a bacterium, Brucella ovis (B. ovis).
Infected rams become infertile.
We are part of the Ovine Brucellosis Accreditation Scheme (OBAS) No 605 our rams were blood tested Sep 2023, and all returned a negative result to B.Ovis(Not due again till Oct 2027)
Examples of what we look for when purchasing Purebred Breeding Stud Babydoll Rams and Ewes.
Below Photos are of Tanjar Jinto
Below Photos are of Tanjar Jinto
(Note: Graded sheep may vary and not contain all the desirable traits but are useful in an Appendix breeding program and Wethers who may have been wethered as they didn't meet the standard as Stud Rams but can go on to make perfect pets.)