Almost all our lambs have made their arrivial and now the difficult task of deciding who stays and who goes has to be made.  If you are interested in any sheep in particular or lamb please do not hesitate to email us at heck6100@t6b.com or call me on my cell phone if you have any questions.  My cell is 815-274-8058.  Our little flock of three has now multiplied into about 15 adults, plus lambs and we can now offer our customers a nice variety.  We are very proud of our breeding program and have been getting wonderful feedback on the lambs that we have sold as well. 

***WE HAVE FLEECES!!!***  Our wonderful sheep shearer finally paid us a visit and all our sheep have been sheared, with the current hot weather they are all much happier without their winter wool coats.  I will be skirting as time permits but if you have a particular fleece in mind, please let me know and I'll make that one my next priority.  I will price fleeces as they become available.  As usual we will try to keep our prices as reasonable as possible and will try to get you the best shipping rate that we can as well. 

All our pure babydolls are registered with the North American Babydoll Southdown Sheep Association and Registry. 

Babydoll sheep are also called the "smiling sheep".  Their little fuzzy faces always look like they are smiling and what's not to smile about?  Good hay, a sunny day and a nice place to sleep at night is all they ask.  Of course they do need to be wormed, have their hooves trimmed and be sheared in the spring too, all of which they don't enjoy but they are so easy to handle that those chores are quick and relatively easy.  We love our babydolls so much, even our big and tough ram Bear can be caught up easily and tied to the nearest fence post even if he is in rut.  Our ewes all come to us every night for a treat or two and that is also a good way to keep them nice and tame.  Food is the greatest motivator when training animals.  We do recommend building a nice catch area when you are working with your livestock, it just makes life easier on you and them if you don't have to chase them to do health checks or worm them.  And no matter how tame your livestock are, when you bring out the wormer or those nasty shots, they will try to get away.  Thankfully Babydolls can't run very fast with those little legs but it  is never a good idea to overstress your sheep, that's why a small, strong holding area is needed.  We just toss in whatever treat we have one hand and they come running and we close the gate behind them, trapping them while we do what we have to do.  We've also noticed that when they are together in a tight group they tend to be calmer and easier to catch up.  Never grab them by their wool if you can help it, it hurts them and just causes them more stress.  Just corner them in a calm manner and place your hand under their head, where their head goes so does the rest of them.  We then place a halter on them and tie them up until we are done with them.  Recently we found that a medium sized alpaca halter fits some of our Babydolls better than the standard sheep halter. 

Babydolls are not a true miniature sheep, they are a heritage breed of sheep.  That is why their full name is Old English Southdown Babydoll. If you look up Southdowns in the United Kingdom currently, you'll see sheep that look exactly like what we now call Babydoll.  In years past, no one had refrigeration and so there was no point in breeding giant livestock, the Southdown sheep has had a very important place in the history of Great Britain, they provided wool fiber and meat and in a country that is always wet and cold, wool is a very important fabric.  It is the only natural fabric that retains heat even when wet and is also fireproof.  Our military uses most of the wool that is produced here in America.  The Southdown sheep has a fascinating history and if you have a moment please be sure to look them up.  What we currently call a Southdown here in the US is really a composite of different sheep breeds bred for a larger size and a leaner carcass that still retains the basic Southdown characteristics but is taller and leaner than the orginal Southdowns.  

Chronic Wasting Disease:

Recently I was asked why we don't test our sheep for the RR, QR, or QQ gene that may show that our sheep are resistant to scrapie.  Well, the answer is that we have looked into it and found that there is still one form of scrapie that they still might have.  Scrapie as it is called in sheep and goats, Mad Cow or BSE as it is called in cattle, CWD (Cronic Wasting Disease) in deer, it's all the same disease and according to the Center for Disease Control, the disease is in the genes.  It is not contagious to humans by eating their flesh or organs and further, the people of Great Britan, Scotland, Ireland have eaten the flesh of sheep with obvious signs of scrapie and had no ill effects from it.  Scrapie has been around for thousands of years.  I have found some websites that still claim that humans can get it from eating meat but I'm going to stick with the CDC (Center for Disease Control) for the final analysis as it's their responsiblity to keep us Americans healthy.  There has been and will be a ton of research into this subject, I just read that scientists have just recently infected hamsters with it.  Although deer are tested for it when hunters kill them, it takes up to five years to show up so all those deer harvested under five years could potentially have it but it hasn't shown up yet and they still sell licenses to hunt, knowing that those deer will most likely be consumed by humans. So if the DNR isn't worried about hunters and their families getting CWD, the CDC isn't worried about it and the test will only show resistance to all but one form of it and my livestock vet who has worked with cattle for his entire career isn't worried about it then we aren't either. 

Breeding is more than protecting your animals from one potential disease that is genetic and rare.  Breeding is making moms that can deliver their lambs or kids easily and have large udders filled with rich milk, with good confirmation and a strong and healthy immune system.  Your boys should be strong, blocky and have a good personality, not too aggressive but not a whimp either, confident but with a brain.  The girls should be gentle, good moms and both should have nice meaty frames under a thick coat of strong with wool that doesn't break when your spinners work with it.  If you should choose to breed for only one genetic marker you very well may lose something else that is more important for your livestock.  Every breed has it's own criteria and know your breed so that you will always strive to better what you produce.  Don't worry about things that are out of your control.  Talk to your vet and do what he recommends if it makes sense to you, if not, do your own research and set up a protocol that works for you, your family and your farm.  After all, it will be your reputation and your animals health at stake. 

This is Bandit, one of our two babydoll rams.   Bandit has a classic Babydoll confirmation, he is blocky and longer then he is tall. 

This is Care Bear, isn't his coloring neat?  He is from Fred Kraemer's farm in Elkart Lake, Wi.  A note about Bear's temperament; Bear came to us on the wild side but has calmed down and has been a great ram to have around.  He loves the lambs and is often seen out in the pasture with a lamb or two climbing all over him. He does get rammy at times but actually comes when called and I just tie him up to nearest fence post until I'm done then I make him "walk" me to the gate by hanging onto his collar.  I can't say enough great things about the babydoll breed!  After having the experience of a shetland ram trying to kill us, it's a relief to have the babydoll rams now.  They are so much easier to handle.  I'm not bad mouthing the shetland breed but they just weren't the right breed for us.  I'm sure that most shetland rams are very well behaved, we just wound up with one that wasn't.   

A note about rams in general.  Please be careful with rams of any breed.  Talk to other shepherds before buying one and make sure that it's the right decision for you and your family.  If you have small children, please do not ever trust a ram alone with them and never-ever turn your back to them.  Even our gentle giant, Care Bear can do some damage when he gets a mind to, he hit me so hard last year, from behind, that I wound up on the chiropractors table for three days to put my ribs and spine, back where nature intended them to be.  I was grateful that it wasn't worse than it was but all he wanted was the grain I was holding.  However he hit me so hard that he knocked the wind right of me and I was helpless for a minute or two flat on my back.  We have had rams of other breeds that actually tried to kill us. Those boys are long gone! If you have any questions about rams, please send us an email and I will share with  your what I've learned or go to Homesteading Today and look up in the archives what other shepherds experiences have been.  Homesteading Today has been a great teacher for us first time hobby farmers and we've been able to learn more about everything from livestock to gardening.  I encourage everyone to visit the site at least once.  My point is, rams are rams, not pets.  Don't ever mess with them anymore than you have to and they will respect you, make friends with one and when they go into rut they will see you and any other human as a competitor.  There are millions of years of evolution in their genes telling them that only the strongest will breed the next generation of lambs and the way they determine that is by charging and ramming.  Some rams just enjoy it more than others, some rams are just nuts by nature and a few rams were made that way by us humans trying to make pets out of them and then wonder afterward why they charge when they go into rut in the fall. 

GiGi has been accepted into the NABSSAR as a registered Old English Southdown.  She is 1/2 Southdown and 1/2 Old English but she has such great confirmation that the NABSSAR accepted her into the registry.  Their open registration allows for fresh genetics that will improve the breed as a whole.  It wasn't easy but it has been well worth all the effort on our part.  We love these little sheep so much and wanted to do whatever we could to breed the best sheep we were able to. 

This is Cherish as a lamb, we used this photo for our Christmas cards and everyone fell in love with her! 

Cherish is our first lamb born on our farm, she is out of Charlotte and sired by Bear.  She couldn't be any cuter!    She is registered with NABSSAR and is a year old as of May/09. 

Cherish gave birth to one little white ewe lamb yesterday, 2/25/10. Carmen the ewe lamb, is a little unusual, she has nice mocha colored stockings but she also has a mocha colored tail as well. **Cherish's lamb, Carmen has been sold***

This is our Charlotte, she is from WildHaven in Forreston, IL.  Thank you Sandy-Charlotte is such a wonderful ewe and a great mom too.  This is a terrible picture but it's the only one I could get where she didn't have her face shoved into some sort of food.  I will work on getting a better one. 

2011 This is the smaller of Charlotte's ram lambs, yes his little ears are starting to level out.  He is available for sale.  His larger brother is next to him.  Yes, his brother has three little white dots on his head, those should blend in as he gets older and he is not considered spotted.  He is also for sale.  These boys are black, not chocolate and they will stay black.  As they age they may turn grey and the sun will bleach the ends of their wool, there are some good pictures of black Babydolls on the NABSSAR website.  They have the most interesting colored wool!  This little ram has been reserved-sale is currently pending**His brother with the white on his forehead is still available.**Update-both black ram lambs have been sold**Thank you Michelle and Karen**

Lucy is Charlotte's second lamb.  She was born in 2009.  Lucy has been retained. 

This is a current picture of Lucy, taken March 2010.  She is such a wonderful ewe. 

Cricket is a white babydoll ewe from Mill Stream Farm in Rock City Il.  Cricket has been bred to Bear.  

2/22/11, Cricket gave birth to twin ram lambs, one white with cinnamon blush on his legs, face and ears and his brother is solid black. Cricket gave birth to both boys without any assistance and even though the weather was super yucky, both boys are thriving and mom is nursing both boys without any assistance.  We have a reservation for Bruce the black lamb but if things change then I will repost if he becomes available again. A quick note about Lucas, he is the most mellow little lamb that we've ever had.  He is very thrifty and plays hard but when he is tired he just goes into a calf hutch and goes to sleep, usually with his brother.  He shows confidence and courage even at this young age.  It would be shame to wether him but if he doesn't sell then we will have to wether him if he stays here.  He is 1/2 black as both of my rams are black/chocolate so he could throw either white or chocolate.  **The white ram lamb has been sold** The chocolate is still available.

This is little Sunny, Cricket's ewe lamb at about 6 weeks old.  She is very inquisitive and sweet.  Sunny is all grown up now but like all our babydolls, it is very hard to get a good picture of her because she always seems to be eating.  I'll continue to try to get a decent picture of her...be patient with me!

Lola is from Cristo Rey Ranch, a petting zoo in Mt Calvary Wisconsin, which is run by a convent of nuns who also manage a nursing home right next door.  My short visit to pick up Lola was not long enough see all 120 acres but what I did see was very impressive.  How wonderful that these inventive and hard working women have combined tranquil and meditative gardens with the vibrance of all kinds of animals from llamas and horses to exotic breeds of ducks and pheasants.  And best of all, they breed Babydoll sheep too! 

Prices: White Ewe lambs $325.00, White Ram lambs $150.00, Black or chocolate ewe lambs $375.00 and Black or chocolate ram lambs $200.00, White wether lambs $100.00, Black or chocolate wether lambs $125.00--wethers do not come with registration papers unless requested.

Our lambs will be due in late February to early March.  For the health of our lambs they will be left with their moms for six to eight weeks.  When you get your new lamb home, you will need to handle them every day.  Leash training is advisable and we can help with advice on this.  If you are interested in one of our lambs please feel free to email us to be put on our waiting list.  Our email address is heck6100@t6b.com 

All our livestock will have their first CDT shot, ear tag, utd on worming and hoof trimming and if traveling over state lines, will need health papers.  Health paper cost will depend on whatever our vet is currently charging.  We register all our pure babydolls with the North American Babydoll Southdown Sheep Association and Registry.