Babydoll information.
Please note that information provided on our website can only be reproduced elsewhere with acknowledgement of Babydoll Sheep Breeders Australia as the source.
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Our breeders put their heads together to make a list of questions about Babydoll sheep that are often asked... Q. Do they need shearing and what is their wool used for?
A. Babydoll sheep need to be shorn once a year. Their wool is a dense, springy Downs-type fleece, typically around 22-24 micron and 3-5cm staple length. It can be used for spinning by experienced spinners who can manage the sort staple, for stuffing and garden mulch. Some of our breeders also use the raw fleece on a peg loom to weave floor rugs. Q. Can you eat them? A. Well bred Babydolls weigh heavy and have a well muscled carcase. They are suited to home butchery for small cuts but are unlikely to be competitive in a commercial meat production scenario. The meat is succulent and finely marbled. A Babydoll ram can also be used over other sheep breeds in small flocks to produce meaty crossbred lambs. Q. Are they miniature, a heritage breed, a rare breed? A. Babydoll sheep are more accurately described as small sheep rather than miniature. The breed standard allows for them to be between 45 and 61cm in height at the shoulder. Babydolls are not a heritage breed but they are based on Southdowns which are a heritage breed. Babydolls in Australia are a relatively new breed and numbers are increasing rapidly. If you look at the Rare Breeds Trust of Australia's definition of a rare breed, Babydolls would be unlikely to be considered a rare breed. In the BSBA Babydoll registry alone there are around 1400 Babydolls registered and this number is increasing rapidly. There are also two other Babydoll registries. The breed is relatively new with very few, if any, Babydolls having more than 6 generations of registered Babydolls in their pedigree. At the time of writing, BSBA had 64 registered Babydoll flocks. Of course Babydoll sheep don't need to be miniature, rare or a heritage breed to be an attractive breed to keep! Q. What are the commercial uses for Babydoll sheep? A. Commercial uses for Babydolls are grazing and sucker pruning in vineyards, orchards and solar farms where their short stature naturally limits how high they can reach. Because of their easy going temperament, small size and easy handling, Babydoll sheep are also used on small farms, for agritourism and animal therapy. Q. What are the routine health management tasks? A. Generally, accepted practice is
Q. What do you feed Babydoll sheep? A. Like all sheep, Babydoll sheep do well on pasture. They are efficient feeders and generally do not need supplementary feeding except when there is insufficient grass (eg drought) or in late pregnancy and early lactation. Supplementary feed could be hay, grain or sheep pellets. Any new feed should be introduced slowly. If your Babydoll sheep are lying around for most of the day looking a bit like beached whales, they are eating too much. Refer to information from your State agriculture department about suitable feeds for sheep and calculating rations. Q. What lick blocks do my sheep need? A. General information from state agricultural departments suggests ensuring that your sheep are getting adequate levels of energy and protein before worrying about minerals and vitamins. A loose lick of equal parts of agricultural lime, coarse salt and Causemag is relatively inexpensive, easy to make and commonly recommended for use with sheep by these departments and other research bodies such as Australian Wool Innovation. There are also many commercially-made lick blocks and loose licks available. Q. Do I need to have a shed for my Babydoll sheep? A. Not really. As long as they have trees and shrubs providing shelter from hot sun and cold winds, Babydoll sheep will be fine out in the paddock day and night. Some Babydoll owners have a predator proof enclosure to protect their sheep where wild dogs are a problem. Some Babydoll owners will use a shed during lambing to protect lambs (but lambing can also be done in the paddock with vegetation as shelter). Q. Should I get ewes, rams or wethers? A. This depends on your goals. See Buying Babydoll Sheep - Choices. To state the obvious, if you don't want to breed sheep then don't get a ram. Q. Do Babydoll Sheep make good pets? A. Generally Babydoll sheep are fairly docile and easy to tame and train. Typical behaviours that can be learned are running up to greet people, following a bucket around the farm, accepting chin scratches and patting and walking on a halter and lead. Small amounts of hay and pellets are a powerful incentive! Ewes and wethers are the best option if you want Babydoll pets. Some rams that are encouraged to get overly familiar can become dangerous when they reach maturity. Even though they are short, Babydoll sheep can weigh up to 90kg and that is not funny if it is a ram running towards your knees. Q. What fences do I need? A. Babydoll sheep are generally fairly easy on fences. A well strained hinge-joint wire fence is generally adequate where wild dogs are not present. Babydoll sheep can also be trained to respect electric fences. A small pen is useful for doing sheep management tasks like injections, drenching and vet visits. This can be as simple as four temporary sheep panels joined together in a square with one side opening as a gate. Q. I love these sheep, where can I buy some? A. The good news is that we have a growing number of registered Babydoll breeders in Australia and numbers of Babydoll sheep are increasing. You can contact breeders listed on our stud profiles page, join our Babydoll Sheep - Increase or Decrease Your Flock Facebook Goup or talk to Babydoll breeders at field days and shows. Have a look at our post about Buying Babydoll sheep for tips about what to look for. Buying registered Babydolls is the best way to make sure that the sheep that you buy really are Babydolls. Q. Is there a look/type of Babydoll that everyone is aiming for, like they do in dog breeding? A. The Babydoll breed is still being developed in Australia. BSBA has a Babydoll breed standard that our members aim for. Even working to a breed standard, there is quite a bit of variation. Individual studs will tend to develop a look or type depending on their breeding goals and preferences. It's good to know that just like other animals, Babydoll lambs look different from Babydoll adults. It is worth having a look at the adult sheep in a Babydoll flock (preferably shorn) before deciding to buy the lambs. Q. What about coloured Babydolls? A. The BSBA Babydoll breed standard includes white, coloured, patterned, striped and spotted sheep based on mainly on Southdown genetics. We are really excited with the great variety of colours that our breeders are achieving in their Babydolls. Some coloured Babydolls have their colour entirely from recessive colour genetics found in purebred Southdowns. Others have their colour from crossbreeding with other breeds and then breeding up through four generations or more to increase the % of Southdown genetics and eventually pass inspection to be registered as BSBA Purebred Babydoll. Q. Are there any genetic faults in the breed? A. There are genetic faults in all breeds. A recessive genetic disorder to be aware of for Babydolls is Gaucher. If you are buying Babydolls to breed, it is always worth asking about the Gaucher status of the sheep that you are considering. It is easy and relatively inexpensive to DNA test for Gaucher. It is much better to avoid introducing this defect into your flock than to have to eradicate it after it has silently spread through your flock. The BSBA Babydoll registry has the option for breeders to record where sheep have been DNA tested for Gaucher. This makes it easy to trace cases where Babydolls are Gaucher Free by pedigree when testing was done in earlier generations. Gaucher status is also shown on BSBA registration certificates. If you are in any doubt, it is possible to test again to make extra sure. Q. I'm new to sheep, where can I learn more? A. In Australia we are lucky to have state agriculture departments who publish well researched information about sheep health and husbandry. Their websites are a good place to look for information. You can also ask questions on our Facebook group Australian Babydoll Sheep Enthusiasts or join Babydoll Sheep Breeders Australia for more support. Your vet can also be a good source of information. BSBA runs stud tours where our breeders visit a Babydoll stud and spend time learning about breeding and keeping Babydolls. They are lots of fun. Comments are closed.
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