Southdown sheep smaller scale breeders of sheep. It has been split into two sub-breeds. The Southdown raised by commercial growers today, is larger than the "traditional" Southdown of years past. North American Southdowns are also taller than their English counterparts. The original blood line of the English Southdowns are the "Baby Doll" Southdowns in the US. They have been selected specifically for their smaller size of the original blood lines and a focus on wool and hobby breeding rather than commercial meat production. In California and New Zealand, they are placed in vineyards to graze weeds because they are too short to
Breed standard Breed standard A breed standard (also called bench standard or standard of points) in animal fancy and animal husbandry is a set of guidelines which is used to ensure that the animals produced by a breeder or breeding facility conform to the specifics of the standardized breed. Breed standards are devised by breed associations or breed clubs, not by individuals, and are written to reflect the use or purpose of the species and breed of the animal. Breed standards help define the ideal animal of a breed and provide goals for breeders in improving stock. In essence a breed standard