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.

Additional caution from the HSSR Harlequin Breed-up program: In recent years, blue eyes as well as moving up the generations quickly took precedence over diminutive height, head shape, wool coverage and temperament. Hence Harlequins dropped the word miniature from their original moniker.

HOW IT STARTED

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

Although we were at first enthusiastic about this super high generation, blue eyed young ram, he quickly became too tall to be what could be considered miniature as well as in higher level harlequins like F2 level and FP level, the lambs being produced where not as friendly or as beautiful as the lambs out of our spotted babydoll ewes.

When we raised our concerns about the height, look and temperament detour the higher level HSSR registered harlequins were producing, our concern for the direction of the breed was not appreciated. What was meant to be a collaborative breed-up experience became cancel culture.

So we forged a new path...

Our F1 level HSSR 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.

This is GREAT NEWS for everyone who owns HSSR F0, F1bbd and F1 sheep. In less than 5 years these beautiful sheep will be diluted from the HSSR Harlequin gene pool. Instead of this being a negative for these gorgeous little sheep we are racing against time to preserve them.

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.

In recent years, blue eyes as well as moving up the generations quickly took precedence over diminutive height, head shape, wool coverage and temperament. Hence Harlequins dropped the word miniature from their original moniker.

** 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 registered 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!

Selecting your lambradoodle breed-up stock

Choose very low level HSSR Harlequin sheep

This HSSR registered Harlequin ewe is from our C generation, blue eyed HSSR Harlequin ram and a spot carrier babydoll ewe. Because of the high generation of her sire, she is considered an F0 Lambradoodle.

Her lamb is pictured here is sired by our spotted babydoll ram. this little guy is on point with ear size and placement, face and head characteristics. He is an F1 Lambradoodle and he is dandy!

All lambs are cute

Look at the head shape of the parents of a lamb you are considering. Most lambs have a cute little head but an adult harlequin has a very long head and roman nose that does not reflect the lambradoodle asthetic.

This colorful A generation HSSR registered lamb will grow to have very elongated ears and face. Very appropriate for a harlequin but not for a lambradoodle. Breeding him to spot carrier babydoll ewes may produce some nice F0 H lambradoodles that can then be bred to spotted or spot carrier babydolls to help achieve the smaller size, prettier face and ear set that is a lambradoodle signature.

Spotted and/or spot carrier babydolls get you seeing spots sooner

The piebald coloring or what is called spotting in the lambradoodle only shows up when both parents carry the gene. Although spotted babydolls are fewer in number, even choosing a carrier as breeding stock will start you off ahead.

To learn more about color check out our mini spotted sheep here