Southdown sheep his associates were searching for the stock to start the new registry, only adult Babydoll sheep, two years and older, were accepted in the flock, so they could be judged against the original conformation standards as verified by a veterinarian. Each sheep's registration application was passed before a board of three members of the soon to be formed Olde English Southdown Registry. After this initial review and acceptance period, the "Foundation Flock" registry was closed in 1991. Subsequently, the process of registering lambs from this newly established foundation flock began. Southdown sheep The Southdown is a small, dual-purpose English sheep,
Breed registry conformation shows. For the breed to move to the Miscellaneous class and then to fully recognized status, the breed's stud book must be closed. A closed stud book allows the breed to stay very pure to its type, but limits its ability to be improved. This may put a breed at a disadvantage, especially in performance disciplines, where an animal is worth more if it is successful in competition even if it is not pure. It also limits the gene pool, which may make certain undesirable characteristics become accentuated in the breed, such as a poor conformational fault or a