Southdown

The Southdown ranks among the oldest of the British Down breeds, first developed on the chalk downs of Sussex in the south of England. It is a small, thickset sheep with a deep, wide body carried on short legs. Wool grows over the face and down the legs, giving the breed its familiar woolly, mouse-brown to grey face.

Southdowns were bred first and foremost for meat. The lambs finish quickly off grass and yield a fine-grained carcass with a good ratio of meat to bone. Mature ewes typically weigh 55 to 90 kg and rams 90 to 115 kg, which puts the breed among the smaller meat sheep.

Temperament is what sets the breed apart. Southdowns are placid, good-natured animals that are easy to handle, a trait that has made them popular with smallholders, hobby farmers and families running a handful of sheep on a few hectares. A miniature version, the Babydoll Southdown, has been bred down from the original type and is kept as a pet and for grazing orchards and vineyards.

Who it suits

The Southdown suits farmers who want a docile, easy-to-manage sheep on a limited camp or two. Its small frame makes it easier to handle than the bigger commercial breeds, and its calm nature suits beginners and family setups. The breed also works well as a terminal sire, where rams are put over larger ewes to lift carcass quality in the crossbred lambs.

The Southdown takes its name from the South Downs, a stretch of chalk hills in Sussex in the south of England. Sheep of this general type had grazed those downs for centuries, valued for thriving on short grass and for improving thin soil through close grazing.

The breed as it exists today was shaped by John Ellman of Glynde, near Lewes, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Working from about 1780 to 1800, Ellman selected for a smaller, blockier, early-maturing animal with good meat qualities and standardised the type. His work made the Southdown one of the first systematically improved British sheep breeds.

Through the nineteenth century the Southdown became a foundation breed, used to create or improve several other Down and meat breeds, among them the Hampshire, Suffolk, Oxford and Shropshire. Breeders such as Jonas Webb of Babraham carried the improvement further and exported animals widely.

The breed made its way to North America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where it contributed to local meat-sheep flocks. The traditional smaller type later gave rise to the Babydoll Southdown, kept in the United States as a compact strain once commercial flocks moved towards bigger animals.

The Southdown has a compact, rounded outline. The body is deep and wide, with a level back, well-sprung ribs and a broad, well-muscled hindquarter. The legs are short and set well apart. Both ewes and rams are naturally polled, meaning neither carries horns.

The head is short and broad with a wide forehead. Wool covers the face and runs down the legs, and the bare skin on the face and legs is usually a mouse-brown or grey shade. The ears are small and covered in short wool.

Coat and colours

The fleece is short, dense and fine to medium in grade, with a staple length of about 4 to 6 cm and a typical annual clip of 1 to 1.5 kg per ewe. The wool itself is white, while the face, ears and lower legs carry the breed's distinctive grey-brown colouring. The Babydoll strain shows the same pattern on a smaller frame and is also bred in a black variety.

The Southdown is known above all for its quiet, even temper. The breed is friendly, gentle and good-natured, and individual sheep often grow tame and approachable with regular handling. This docility is one of the main reasons the breed gets recommended to first-time keepers and family flocks.

Around people, Southdowns are generally calm and easy to move, and they put up with handling, shearing and routine care with little fuss. They are not flighty and tend to stay settled around familiar handlers. With strangers they stay placid rather than nervous.

As a flock animal the Southdown does best with company and should not be run alone. It mixes well with other grazing stock and is gentle enough to share a camp with goats, horses or cattle. Rams are usually easier to manage than those of the bigger breeds, but normal caution still applies during the breeding season.

Southdowns are hardy, low-maintenance sheep that do well on grass. Their small frame and calm nature make daily handling, moving and treatment easier than with the bigger breeds.

Grooming

• Shear once a year, usually in late spring, to remove the full fleece
• Trim hooves every 6 to 10 weeks, or as needed, to stop overgrowth
• Check the wool around the face and rear for soiling, which can draw flies
• Keep the fleece clean and dry to cut the risk of skin and parasite problems

Exercise

• Give daily access to a camp or paddock for grazing and movement
• Rotate grazing between camps to keep the grass in good condition and limit worm burden
• Allow room to walk and graze freely, which keeps weight and feet in good order

Environment

Southdowns cope with a wide range of conditions. South Africa's climate varies sharply by region and altitude, from frosty Highveld winters to the milder, wetter coastal belt and the dry Karoo, and the breed adjusts reasonably well across these zones provided the ground underfoot stays dry enough to protect their feet. A simple three-sided shelter or shed gives protection from heavy rain, wind and summer heat. Secure fencing is essential, and their short legs mean standard stock fencing usually holds them without trouble.

Grass is the mainstay of the Southdown diet. On decent grazing, mature non-breeding sheep often need little beyond forage, clean water and a suitable mineral supplement. In winter, or when the grass runs short, feed good-quality hay. Concentrate feed (grain or pellets) only comes in when energy needs climb, such as in late pregnancy, during lactation, or when finishing lambs for market.

Treats and supplements

Offer a sheep-specific mineral lick or loose mineral formulated with low copper. Keep clean, fresh water available at all times. Small amounts of vegetables or fruit can be given now and then, but any change to the diet should be brought in gradually to avoid digestive upset such as bloat or acidosis.

The Southdown is a robust, long-established breed with no major breed-specific disorders. With good management, ewes commonly live 10 to 12 years and stay productive for most of that time. Most health issues in the breed are the routine concerns of any pastured sheep rather than inherited faults. The compact, short-legged build means body condition needs watching so the sheep do not run to fat on rich grazing.

Preventive care

• Schedule routine vaccinations, such as clostridial cover, on veterinary advice
• Carry out regular faecal egg counts and dose only when needed
• Trim and check feet on a regular cycle
• Shear annually and dag soiled wool to cut flystrike risk
• Provide low-copper minerals and keep an eye on body condition

Southdowns are seasonal breeders that mate in autumn for spring lambing in temperate climates. Ewe lambs can reach breeding condition from about 7 to 12 months old, though many farmers wait until the ewe is well grown before her first mating. Gestation runs to roughly 147 days, close to five months.

Lambing is usually straightforward, helped along by the breed's moderate lamb size and strong maternal instincts. Ewes are attentive mothers and milk well, and the lambs are vigorous and grow quickly. Litter size is most often one or two lambs, with twins common in mature, well-fed ewes.

Rams are widely used as terminal sires, put over larger ewe breeds to add muscling and early finishing to the crossbred lambs. Young stock are typically weaned at around 12 to 16 weeks, after which they carry on growing on good grazing.