NOTICE: The grading system for Babydoll Southdowns is currently under review. AABMGS advise that we will not be accepting any new registration until the review is finalised.
Breed standard
The Babydoll Southdown breed is based on the Southdown with a focus on a short, well-muscled body that makes it suitable for use in vineyards and orchards, as a dual purpose meat and wool sheep and as a terminal sire for maiden ewes. The breed is known for its easy going temperament, attractive appearance including the Babydoll smile, efficient use of feed and good eating with smaller cuts suited to home butchering. The goals of this breed are to produce a short, stocky, easy care, easy to handle sheep with good fertility, easy lambing, good mothering, good lamb survival and good resistance to worms that is a dual purpose meat and wool sheep.
A good Babydoll Southdown should catch the eye with its alertness and balanced appearance, displaying the following characteristics: HEAD AND FACE
|
|
Registration and grading requirements
General
Sheep accepted into the Australian All Breeds Miniature Goat Society Inc (AABMGS) Miniature Sheep Branch under Babydoll Southdown shall be graded and registered as outlined below. An AABMGS member selling Babydoll Southdown sheep shall declare the percentage of each breed and grading involved. The height of the animal is to be recorded when the sheep is at least one year old. The owner can measure the height of the sheep themselves. Height is measured from the top of the shoulders to the ground below. Inspections against the breed standard will be undertaken by Babydoll Southdown breed representatives. At all times AABMGS reserves the right to nominate the percentage and grade a sheep may represent. Breeders wanting to register lambs under one year old have the following options:
Owners of sheep who did not breed the sheep can only register the sheep or apply to upgrade to purebred registration if the breeder or previous owner has transferred the registration to them. Registry start-up phase During the registry start-up phase, sheep registered in an Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association (ASSBA) Southdown flock as purebred Southdown can be registered as purebred Babydolls if they meet the AABMGS Babydoll breed standard including the height requirements. Purebred Southdown ewes from an ASSBA flock that do not meet the AABMGS Babydoll breed standard and are 65cm or less in height can be registered as Grade A Babydoll at the discretion of the Registrar. In this case they will be considered 93.75% Babydoll. Purebred Southdown rams registered with ASSBA that do not meet the AABMGS Babydoll breed standard and purebred Southdown ewes from an ASSBA flock that are over 65cm in height can be registered as Foundation. In this case they will be considered 0% Babydoll. Sheep bred in an ASSBA Southdown appendix flock are not able to be transferred across to the Babydoll grades. Grade A sheep in an ASSBA Southdown appendix flock can be considered for Babydoll registration after passing ASSBA Southdown inspection. To register a sheep with AABMGS that was bred under the ASSBA registration system, the owner must provide evidence that the sheep was bred in an ASSBA registered Southdown flock and that the owner has the right to register the sheep with ASSBA. AABMGS will only register Southdown sheep as Babydoll if the sire and dam are recorded with ASSBA. The evidence provided can be:
Foundation sheep Sheep of any breed can be recorded as foundation sheep. This includes sheep registered in an Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association (ASSBA) Southdown flock as purebred Southdown that do not meet the AABMGS Babydoll Southdown breed standard. A foundation sheep is rated as 0% Babydoll Southdown. Information to be provided: photo of sheep. No proof of height is required. Grade D: 50% Babydoll Southdown Cross To be registered as a 50% Babydoll Southdown Cross (1st cross or ½ bred), the sheep must have one registered purebred Babydoll Southdown parent or another combination of AABMGS registered parents that delivers the minimum 50% Babydoll Southdown parentage. The height must be above 43cm and can be above 61cm. No proof of height is required. Information to be provided:
Grade C: 75% Babydoll Southdown Cross To be registered as a 75% Babydoll Southdown Cross (2nd cross or ¾ bred), the sheep must have a registered purebred Babydoll Southdown parent and a registered Grade D parent or another combination of AABMGS registered parents that delivers the minimum 75% Babydoll Southdown parentage. The height must be above 43cm and can be above 61cm. No proof of height is required. Information to be provided:
Grade B: 87.5% Babydoll Southdown Cross To be registered as a 87.5% Babydoll Southdown Cross (3rd cross or 7/8 bred), the sheep must have a registered purebred Babydoll Southdown parent and a registered Grade C parent or another combination of AABMGS registered parents that delivers the minimum 87.5% Babydoll Southdown parentage. The height must be above 43cm and can be above 61cm. No proof of height is required. Information to be provided:
Grade A: 93.75% Babydoll Southdown Cross To be registered as a 93.75% Babydoll Southdown Cross (4th cross or 15/16 bred), the sheep must have a registered purebred Babydoll parent and a registered Grade B parent or another combination of AABMGS registered parents that delivers the minimum 93.75% Babydoll Southdown parentage. Some purebred Southdown ewes from ASSBA flocks may also be registered as Grade A Babydoll Southdown. The height must be above 43cm and can be above 61cm. Information to be provided:
Grade AA: 100% Babydoll Southdown To be registered as Grade AA the sheep must have two registered purebred Babydoll Southdown parents. This grade is used for lambs pending inspection as purebred Babydoll Southdowns and sheep that have not passed inspection as purebred Babydoll Southdowns but may still be useful in a breeding program. Information to be provided for registration is the same as for Grade A Purebred Babydoll Southdown Once a sheep is over one year old it can be inspected for full purebred Babydoll Southdown registration. To be registered as purebred Babydoll Southdown, the sheep must satisfy the requirements for Grade A or Grade AA and meet the AABMGS Babydoll Southdown breed standard. The height at the time of registration must be above 43cm and below 61cm for a one-year-old sheep or above 43cm and below 62cm for a sheep two or more years old. To be registered as a coloured Purebred Babydoll Southdown the Grade A Babydoll Southdown must have one registered coloured parent per generation back to and including the great-great-grandparents. To be registered as an off-white Purebred Babydoll Southdown, the Grade A Babydoll Southdown must have a pedigree back to and including the great-great-grandparents that consists entirely of off-white sheep. The following information is required for inspection when applying for purebred registration at one year old (or older):
A sheep accepted for registration as purebred Babydoll Southdown will be considered 100% Babydoll Southdown for the purposes of calculating percentage Babydoll Southdown parentage of its offspring. Calculating percentages The estimated percentage of purebred genetics in an offspring is the average of the percentage of purebred Babydoll Southdown genetics of the parents. Where the percentage is not even to the grades above, the percentage will be rounded down to the nearest grade percentage. Examples: A registered purebred Babydoll Southdown ram is weighted at 100% and a Foundation ewe is weighted at 0%. The average of the parents is (100% + 0%) divided by 2 which gives 50%, meeting the requirement for registration as Grade D. For a Grade C ewe (75%) and a Grade B ram (87.5%), the average of the parents is (75% + 87.5%) divided by 2 which gives 81.25%. This is rounded down to 75%, meeting the requirement for registration as Grade C. |
Striped Babydolls |
Example of photos for Grade A and Purebred Babydoll registrations
|
|
Australian All Breeds of Miniature Goat and Sheep Society Inc.