Brenda and Darrel Tribble love their animals – all of them which include Boer goats, horses, ducks, Guinea hens, Dominique chickens, a miniature horse, a miniature donkey, dachshunds, schnauzers, cats and kittens, and perhaps their favorites, Old English Babydoll Southdown sheep. They raise their self-confessed menagerie on 38 acres in rural Camden County, outside of Macks Creek, Mo.
“I saw the Babydolls for the first time in an article in “Grit Magazine” and just had to have some. And while my husband was deployed overseas, I got them.” Brenda’s enthusiasm for her “sheep that smile” as she describes them, is insatiable. “They’re very docile and only weigh about 100 pounds when they’re full grown so they are pretty easy to handle and take care of.”
Darrel, who has done three tours overseas in recent years with the U.S. Army Reserves, rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her description of the sheep. “Luckily, I’ve always been home when it is time to do the shearing,” he added with a grin.
“They have very fine wool, comparable to cashmere,” Brenda continued, “with more barbs per inch than other wool which is what makes theirs so soft.
“They are a heritage breed and rare here. The registered Babydoll sheep, the smaller ones, are actually the original breed, as breeders over the years, have gone for the bigger animals for both wool and meat. Ours breed once a year. We put the ewes with the ram in November and five months later, practically to the day, they’ll lamb. We feed grain in the fall and that helps them to breed better and increases the likelihood of twins or triplets, which is good. We just feed hay and a little treated grain in the winter months.”
Darrel added, “Usually we don’t have to hay from April to September but this year, we’ve had to hay everything. Our two fields that we usually use for grazing are just dirt, really dusty dirt right now.”
“We shear them in April, as the hot weather begins, before lambing season and they just love it. They are so much cooler after the shearing,” Brenda shared.
“They are so cute when they’re born in that they only weigh around seven to eight pounds. The lambs are pretty long-legged skinny things but they get up and go to nursing right away.
“Our lambing pens are 4’x4’, big enough for the ewes and the lambs but small enough that the lambs don’t get lost from their mothers. The smaller space also keeps them warmer, which they still need in the spring.”
All of Brenda and Darrel’s Babydoll sheep are registered with the Robert Mock Registry, a sole proprietorship registry formed by the founder to ensure that the Babydoll Southdown heritage lineage continues.
“Lots of folks like them but no one loves them like our six grandkids when they come for a visit,” Brenda concluded with a big smile.
