Favorite Fiber of the Moment

Babydoll Southdown Sheep

 

Article by Pam Blasko

 

Hobby farming is finding its place in the busy lives of folks looking to get back to simplicity. Families are finding great satisfaction raising a few chickens and growing their own vegetables.  Small farms of mixed livestock and plant crops on less than 5 acres are known as Micro-farms or as I like to call them - farmettes.

Suggested livestock that can be supported by small acreage and that
are beneficial to the land are sheep!  One breed in particular that is
growing in popularity with farmette farmers is the hardy, little Babydoll
Southdown Sheep.  

One of the oldest of the English breeds of sheep is the Southdown.  It
originates from the South Down Hills of Sussex County in southeastern
England.  These small, hardy, Southdown sheep were popular among
English shepherds and they were given breed standards in 1780 by John
Ellman.  The popularity of the Southdown breed declined due to the
demand for larger cuts of meat and subsequently this demand almost
forced the breed into extinction.

The Southdown's were imported to Pennsylvania in the early 1800s, but
their existence in the United States followed the same pattern that had
occurred in England.  The smaller Southdown could not compete with
consumer demand and was bred up to a larger, leggier sheep…the larger
Southdown's of today.

In 1989, Robert Mock began a search for these almost extinct miniature
sheep.  Four years later, he located two small flocks of the historic
Southdown's.  These findings led him to more small flocks in other parts of the country.  All of these animals were pure and many still had their original Southdown registrations.  In order to distinguish the small sheep form the larger Southdown's of today, Mr. Mock named them Olde English “Babydoll” Southdown's.  To ensure the lines are kept pure, he formed The Olde English Babydoll Southdown Sheep Registry.

The standard of the Babydoll Southdown Sheep is taken directly from the Southdown Sheep Society of England.  It is the standard of the original sheep changed only to allow colors.  

Babydolls must be 24 inches and under at the shoulder (shorn).  Their wool is fine textured, and has been found to be around 22 microns which puts it in the class of cashmere. The Babydoll fleece has more barbs per inch than any other wool types thus making it an ideal blend with either angora (rabbit) or mohair (Angora goat).

Because of their short legs, Babydolls do well in small areas. They are ideal for suburban lot owners who would enjoy the tranquility of sheep on small acreage.  Both ewes and rams are polled (have no horns) and are non-aggressive by nature. They are not wanderers and rarely challenge fences. Babydolls are being utilized as organic weeders with huge success in orchards, berry farms and vineyards.  The small sheep do not harm fruit, girdle trunks or disturb shrubs. 

 

Spinning Babydoll Southdown wool

 

I was a spinner for 10 years before I was introduced to the Babydolls. I owned Corriedale sheep, which if you’re not familiar are quite big - 150 to 200 pounds. I decided to look into the Babydolls and ordered some doll fiber from the Internet. I loved it! I thought it was soft and lofty with a lot of elasticity. My search began for sheep to purchase and took me over a year but I finally found two in Connecticut and two in NY. Those four unrelated sheep began my Southdown flock.

 

My farm business is mainly spinning the fiber and the fiber has to be of a certain quality to keep me in the spinning business. I did find that some of the fleeces were of short staple but most were of a longer staple 3 to 4 inches that some folks say is not great for spinning.

 

Well, let’s be fair…cashmere, buffalo and yak is much shorter then most Babydoll and we seek after it as an exotic desired fiber. The Babydoll micron count can be as low as 22 microns which is in my book makes for great wool.  The softness is wonderful and the springy feel to the roving makes me want to dance my fingers through the wool bag.

 

The garments I have knitted from the wool are warm, soft and comfortable. I’m a simple spinner, ratios and spinning mean nothing to me. I pick up a fiber and decide how the wheel needs to be set and I spin. I spin doll wool with no effort at all. I teach spinning and use my dolls wool and have created quite a love for the breed this way. I even sold a flock of doll lambs to a student who as fallen as much in love with the breed and their wool as I! I think the Olde English Babydoll sheep are worth the effort that shepherds are putting into the breed to help build the numbers and bring this breed back in great numbers. If you have the opportunity to try some doll wool, do so. I'm sure you will be hooked!

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My name is Pam Blasko and I reside at Dream Come True Farm in Oxford, CT with my husband Mike, 9 Olde English Babydoll Southdown Sheep, 1 12 year old corriedale sheep, 2 llamas, 1 huacaya alpaca, 1 suri alpaca, 2 German giant angora rabbits, one miniature horse and 3 wiemeraner dogs! We are a full house for sure! We are also home to the Spinner's Notebook.....a book about wool.  All of my wool animals are to provide us with fiber. I have been in the fiber business or if truth be told addicted to fiber for 11 years now. It all started with one chocolate brown corriedale sheep named Becky that was purchased as a companion to a horse. As I learned all about the care of a sheep I learned about the wool. This was the beginning on the end as some would say.

 

That was the beginning of Dream Come True Farm. We spin, dye and sell our wool and yarn. We also breed registered Old English Babydoll Southdown sheep. Our goal is to raise and produce the healthiest lambs possible to share with other fiber addicted folks. Second to the health of our flock is the quality of our yarns. We try to continually come up with fun and interesting novelty yarns, most one of a kind. We are home to the Spinner's Notebook project, a book dedicated to teaching fiber folks all about wool through the touch and feel of actual fiber samples from around the world and from all kinds of fiber animals. Some you may never think of spinning.

 

My fiber animals have become my life. To wake up each morning and walk out into the backyard and be greeted by bah's from the sheep, a sound of laughter from the miniature horse, a gallop with a twist from the camalids makes all the work involved in farming worth every minute. I raise my cup of coffee each morning to them all and greet them with all my love.