Southdown sheep Southdown sheep The Southdown is a small, dual-purpose English sheep, raised primarily for meat. The Southdown breed was originally bred by John Ellman of Glynde, near Lewes, East Sussex, about 200 years ago. His work was continued by Jonas Webb of Babraham in Cambridgeshire, who developed the larger animal of today. It was exported to New Zealand and was used in the breeding of the Canterbury lamb. This sheep was involved with crossbreeding to develop other breeds: The Southdown in Britain is recognised by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as a native breed, although today it is popular amongst the
Breed registry stud book is a stud book or breed registry that does not accept any outside blood. The registered animals and all subsequent offspring trace back to the foundation stock. This ensures that the animal is a purebred member of the breed. In horses, an example of a closed stud book is that of the Thoroughbred, with a stud book tracing to 1791. The American Kennel Club is an example of a kennel club with primarily closed books for dogs; it allows new breeds to develop under its Foundation Stock Service, but such dogs are not eligible for competition in AKC