Southdown (sheep) - in The United States

In The United States

The original Southdown breed probably reached the United States in 1803. Their popularity grew because the Southdowns were very easy to take care of and were resilient to many problems for which other sheep are known. They later declined in nearly the same pattern that had occurred in England. One other factor that affected the original bloodlines was the Southdown could not satisfy the consumer demand for larger meat cuts. This was a significant factor in the development and mass production of the larger, leggier Southdown of today. This divergence from the original breed standards was the beginning of what later became two distinct lines in the US.

The American Southdowns were developed by breeding the original bloodlines to larger breeds of Southdowns from other countries to create a sheep that could compete with the other larger meat breeds in the US. However, many of the original attributes the original Southdowns were known for were bred out.

In 1986 a breeder, Robert Mock, began a search for the sheep with bloodlines that conformed to the original Southdowns. After a four-year search, two small flocks totaling 26 sheep were located; however, this group would not be able to provide a sustainable gene pool. Mr. Mock continued his extensive search, and by 1990, he was able to find a total of 350 of the Southdown sheep that had the original bloodlines, and many of them still carried their original Southdown registration papers recognized by the UK. At that time Mr. Mock started the first and original Olde English Southdown Registry to market this once meat breed to an completely new market for people looking for pets and 4H projects, and it was he who started the "Babydoll" used by the members of the original registry, as well as the few spinoff Babydoll registries.

When Mr. Mock and his associates were searching for the stock to start the new registry, only adult Babydoll sheep, two years and older, were accepted in the flock, so they could be judged against the original conformation standards as verified by a veterinarian. Each sheep's registration application was passed before a board of three members of the soon to be formed Olde English Southdown Registry. After this initial review and acceptance period, the "Foundation Flock" registry was closed in 1991. Subsequently, the process of registering lambs from this newly established foundation flock began.