The Southdown is a British breed of domestic sheep,[6]:918[2] the smallest of the British breeds.[7]:23 It is a shortwool breed, and the basis of the whole Down group of breeds. It was originally bred by John Ellman of Glynde, near Lewes in East Sussex, in about 1800.[7]:23 It has been exported to many countries; it has been of particular importance in New Zealand, where it was used in the breeding of Canterbury lamb. In the twenty-first century it is kept principally as a terminal sire.[8]:282

Quick Facts Conservation status, Other names ...
Southdown
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At the Great Yorkshire Show in 2011
Conservation status
Other namesSouth Down, Baby Doll, Babydoll
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Distributioninternational
Traits
Weight
Height
  • Male:
    67 cm[2]
  • Female:
    60 cm[2]
Wool colourwhite
Face colourmouse-grey[5]:482
Horn statuspolled[5]:482
Close

It is listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust among the UK native breeds; it was formerly listed as "priority" or "at risk".[3]

History

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Southdown ram, photograph by Frank Babbage, from the Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition, 1911

From Mediaeval times, small grey-faced polled sheep were kept on the chalk uplands of the South Downs of the counties of Kent and Sussex in south-east England.[5]:492 From about 1780 John Ellman, of Glynde, near Lewes in East Sussex, began selectively breeding them to improve their productive qualities;[7]:23 there are no records of how this breeding was carried out.[5]:492 By the end of the century the breed had become well known, its reputation rivalling that of the Dishley Leicester bred by Robert Bakewell.[9]:125 In the nineteenth century further selective breeding was carried out by Jonas Webb, of Babraham in Cambridgeshire, with such success that the breed was at times known as the Cambridgeshire.[5]:492

This sheep was involved with crossbreeding to develop other breeds:

Characteristics

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Two Southdowns at the 2007 Great Yorkshire Show

Use

The Southdown was traditionally reared for meat and wool. During the day the sheep pastured freely on the downs, and at night they were close-folded in the arable fields of the farmers, where they helped to increase soil fertility.[10]

Fleece weights (greasy) are about 2–3.5 kg for ewes, 3.5–5.5 kg for rams. Staple length is some 50–60 mm, and fibre diameter about 23–25 μm (equivalent to a Bradford count of 58/60s).[7]:15

In California and New Zealand, they are placed in vineyards to graze weeds because they are too short to reach the grapes on the vines.[11]

References

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