![]() At the small ruminant project at Virginia State University in 2001 | |
Other names |
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Country of origin | Barbados |
Distribution | 25 countries world-wide, mainly Caribbean and South America [1] |
Use | meat |
Traits | |
Hair colour | black, brown |
Face colour | black, brown |
Horn status | polled |
Notes | |
good resistance to heat and parasites | |
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The Barbados Black Belly is a breed of domestic sheep from the Caribbean island of Barbados. It is raised primarily for meat. Unlike most tropical sheep, it is highly prolific, with an average litter size of approximately 2.
It is widely distributed, with populations in twenty-five countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe. It is most abundant in the Caribbean region, in Mexico and in Peru. In 2015 the total world population was estimated at 158000.
In 1624, when William Courten arrived in Barbados, the only domestic animal on the island was the pig. By about 1650 sheep of two different types had been introduced, as described by Richard Ligon in his True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes: there were European wool sheep, which did not do well on the coarse pasture of the island, and hair sheep brought from West Africa. [2] By the mid-eighteenth century the wool sheep were no longer seen on the island; Griffith Hughes describes only hair sheep in The Natural History of Barbados, published in 1750. [2]
In 1980 the purebred Black Belly constituted approximately one third of the total number of sheep in Barbados, which at that time was about 30000; much of the rest of the population consisted of hair sheep of much the same type. [2] The Black Belly has been exported to many countries and is widely distributed, with populations in twenty-five countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe. It is most abundant in the Caribbean region, in Mexico and in Peru. [1] In 2015 the total world population was estimated at 158000. [1]
In the United States it has been cross-bred with Corsican Mouflon to produce the American Blackbelly, a distinctively-marked reddish sheep of small to medium size, which in males develops very large horns; the ewes are polled. There are 250–500 thousand of these in Texas, where many are reared as trophy animals to be shot by hunters. [3] : 753 [4] : 150 [5] : 419 In 2014 the US reported 212 head of the original Barbados Black Belly breed. [6]
The Barbados Black Belly has also been used in a cross-breeding project in Indonesia. [7]
The Black Belly is well adapted to tropical conditions: it has a high tolerance of parasites and is able to survive by grazing tropical grasses of poor quality, even in severe tropical heat and humidity. [8] : 240 It is a hair sheep, growing hair rather than wool. [2] Unlike most tropical sheep, it is highly prolific, with an average litter size of approximately 2. [2]
The Black Belly is reared primarily for meat. [9]
The Coopworth is a modern New Zealand breed of sheep. It was developed by researchers at Lincoln College in the Canterbury region of the South Island between about 1956 and 1968, the result of cross-breeding of New Zealand Romney ewes and Border Leicester rams. It has become the second-most numerous sheep breed in New Zealand, and has been exported to Australia, some European countries, and the United States.
The Drysdale is a New Zealand breed of sheep. It was developed from 1931 by Francis Dry, and derives from sheep of the New Zealand Romney breed in which a mutation caused the coat to be particularly hairy, and thus suitable for carpet-making. It is a specialised carpet wool breed, but also a useful meat breed.
The Valais Blacknose, German: Walliser Schwarznasenschaf, is a breed of domestic sheep originating in the Valais region of Switzerland. It is a dual-purpose breed, raised both for meat and for wool.
The Churra is an Iberian type, breed or group of breeds of sheep. The word churra simply means 'coarse-woolled'. The Churra originates in the Duero Valley in the autonomous community of Castile and León in north-western Spain. In the province of Zamora the milk is used to make Zamorano cheese.
The Icelandic is the Icelandic breed of domestic sheep. It belongs to the Northern European Short-tailed group of sheep, and is larger than most breeds in that group.
The Awassi is a breed of dairy sheep of Near-Eastern fat-tailed type. It is the most widely distributed non-European dairy breed. It is known by many names, among them Arab, Baladi, Deiri, Gezirieh, Ivesi, Shami and Syrian. It is usually white with brown head and legs.
The Lonk is a British breed of domestic sheep. It belongs to the group of black-faced hill breeds of northern England, and is found in the hills of the central and southern Pennines of Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is documented from the mid-eighteenth century; a flock book was started in 1905.
The Oxford Down is a British breed of domestic sheep. It was developed in the 1830s by cross-breeding of Hampshire Down and Southdown ewes with Cotswold rams. It is reared primarily for meat.
The Katahdin is a modern American breed of sheep. It is an easy-care sheep: it grows a hair coat with little wool which moults naturally in the spring, and so does not need to be shorn. It is reared for meat only.
The Texel is a Dutch breed of domestic sheep originally from the island of Texel. It is a heavy and muscular sheep, and produces a lean meat carcass. It is polled, clean-faced and clean-legged, with white face and wool. The fibre diameter of the wool averages about 32 μ, with a staple length of 8–15 cm; it is used mainly for knitting and hosiery wools.
The Easycare or Easy Care is a modern British breed of easy-care sheep. It was developed in Wales in the second half of the twentieth century by cross-breeding between Welsh Mountain and Wiltshire Horn stock, with the aim of combining the meat-producing qualities and natural moulting characteristic of the latter with the hardiness of the former. It is reared for meat production.
The Bleu du Maine is a French breed of domestic sheep. It originated in the historic region of Maine, and is distributed mainly in the départements of Maine-et-Loire, the Mayenne and the Sarthe in the Pays de la Loire in western France.
The Pelibüey or Spanish: Cubano Rojo is a Cuban breed of domestic sheep. It is found principally in Cuba, where it is the most numerous breed of sheep, but is also reared elsewhere in the Caribbean and in some coastal parts of Mexico. It is a hair sheep – its coat is of hair, not wool; this is a common adaptation to tropical environments. It is likely that it derives at least in part from African breeds of sheep such as the West African Dwarf, and probable that it is related to other American breeds of African origin such as the Barbados Black Belly, the Roja Africana of Venezuela and the Oveja Africana of Colombia.
The Bovec is a breed of domestic sheep from the upper valley of the Soča or Isonzo river, now in Slovenia. The breed is named in both Slovenian and in Italian for the town of Bovec or Plezzo; in the Trenta valley it may also be called Trentarka. It is raised in the Soča valley in Slovenia, in the areas of Resia and Tarvisio in Friuli in Italy, and in Styria and Carinthia in Austria. The breed is raised for milk and for meat.
The Jezersko–Solčava is a breed of domestic sheep from the eastern Alpine region of Europe. Until the outbreak of the First World War it was the most numerous sheep breed in southern Carinthia, in Friuli and in Slovenia. Its name derives from the regions of Jezersko and of Solčava, formerly in the Austrian Empire, now in Slovenia. It is raised also in parts of Austria, Germany and Italy; a small number were imported to Serbia in 1991. It may also be known as the German: Kärntner Brillenschaf, Seeländer Schaf or Villnösser Schaf.
The Cameroon or Cameroon Dwarf is a Cameroonian breed of domestic sheep. It belongs to the West African Dwarf group of breeds. Some have been exported to Europe.
The Red Engadine or Engadine Red is a traditional Swiss breed of domestic sheep from the Lower Engadine valley and some neighbouring parts of Bavaria and Tyrol. It derives from cross-breeding of stock of Bergamasca and Alpines Steinschaf type. It is characterised by its convex profile, its fox-red wool and its long lop ears. In the 1980s it became gravely endangered, but has since recovered. It is a hardy mountain sheep; the hooves are strong and hard, and the breed is one of the few that are reported to have good resistance to foot rot.
The American Blackbelly is a modern American breed of sheep.
The Cambridge is a modern British breed of domestic sheep. It was bred at the University of Cambridge by John Owen and Alun Davies between about 1964 and 1979, with the aim of increasing prolificacy. It is among the most prolific of all sheep breeds, but is critically endangered.