lambradoodle sheep

Combining the gentle nature, petite size and color patterning of the Spotted Babydoll Sheep wih the vigor, loud spot patterns, ease of keeping, and reduced face and leg wool of the Harlequin Sheep.

Our love letter to the miniature sheep world

The Lambradoodle sheep is a new breed that is currently in the very, very early stages of it's breed-up to a breed-true status.

BREED CHARACTERISTICS

A friendly, miniature sheep standing no taller than 24" as an adult with medium to small ears set wide on the head.

Ears can have some wool but wool close around the eyes and legs should be absent.

Head shape is rounded with a short nose. The muzzle and face should be moderate to wide in width to ensure efficient grazing and moderate in length, straight to slightly dished but not Roman.

Colors can be white, black, brown or piebald. Wool has a medium crimp and is soft.

Eye color is brown, gold or yellow.

Characteristics that are not acceptable include:

Horns or scurs

incisor teeth not meeting dental pad

inverted eyelids scrotal rupture or one or both testicles not descended.

HOW IT STARTED

The Oasis Camel Dairy is the birth place of the Lambradoodle Sheep.
Breeding pure bred, spotted babydoll sheep for fifteen years, An A generatation Harlequin* ram was introduced to the babydoll ewes producing gorgeous, small, very colorful lambs.

Love at First Sight...

Those F1 level Harlequin ewes are bred to a spotted** babydoll ram. The results are stunning!

The F0 BBD, F1 and F2 harlequin sheep are very low-level “breed-up” sheep with lots of babydoll genetics.
The result was small, wildly colorful lambs that where docile like the babydolls and more wildly colored like the harlequin.

Going from cross-bred to a true breed...

The Lambradoodle is in the early phase of development to become a true breed.
The goal is consistent breeding of a true miniature (no taller than 24”) sheep with gorgeous, colorful fleece that is easy to care for. Along the way, lambs will be born that have recessive traits. For example, some harlequin sheep are well over 27” tall and this can show up in the offspring, especially at the lower levels. Thoughtful analysis of each individual lamb will determine if it should be part of the focused breed-up program.

To record the development of the breed, breeders approved by Oasis Camel Dairy’s Lambradoodle Sheep program can be issued pedigrees that document the minimum requirements for a sheep to be considered Lambradoodle Breed-Up stock.

Also, a re-certification at 2 years old where height, head shape, wool coverage, ear length, fleece quality and more can qualify a lambradoodle breed-up sheep to be recorded as Breed Standard Certified.

*The Harlequin Sheep is a new American breed known for wild spotting thanks to one of its foundation breeds, the Finn sheep; the harlequin breed is still in development.

** Registered Spotted Babydolls already carry strong genetics for throwing a pie-balled or spotted sheep.

Lambradoodle Breed-up levels

it can take seven or more generations of breeding to reach the breed goal.

The minimum level starting point criteria is that one parent is a registered spotted** babydoll southdown sheep and One parent is a low-level harlequin (F0bbd/F1/F2).
The resulting offspring can be considered an F1 Lambradoodle. If one parent is a higher-level harlequin, then the offspring can be recorded as an F0 H Lambradoodle.

F0 H - 1 parent is a registered spotted babydoll / 1 parent is an FP or higher-level harlequin

F1—1 parent is a registered spotted babydoll / 1 parent is an F0 H Lambradoodle OR both parents are an F0 H Lambradoodle

F2— Both parents are F1 Lambradoodle or higher

FP—Both parents are F2 Lambradoodle or higher

A—Both parents are FP or higher

B—Both parents are A or higher

C—Both parents are B or higher

PUREBRED—Both parents are C level or higher

For all generations, if one parent is a higher level, the offspring can be recorded as one level higher than the lowest level parent.

Are you interested in joining the breed-up program?

There are more than just a few sheep fanciers that have discovered the win, win, win, win combination of the babydoll/harlequin cross.
Taking these crosses to the next level is our joy and we would LOVE to share that! If you are interested in the breed-up program it is easy to be part of!

Qualifying sheep are eligable for a printed pedigree certificate.

Just drop us an email and lets coordinate our efforts.

Let's do this!