West Wind Ranch Creations

West Wind Ranch Creations
R. R. # 6
Aylmer, ON N5H 2R5
Canada
ph: Cell- 519-878-1133
mjkinsey@westwindranchcreations.com

The American Blackbelly Sheep

We have imported 3 lines and we can supply registered breeding stock for anyone wanting to start their own herd of purebred American Blackbelly Sheep!

As you can see, the American Blackbelly Sheep are a hair sheep. The rams have large curled horns. This breed of sheep is very rare. We have some of the only registered American Blackbelly Sheep in Canada east of Alberta. They are often misidentified as Barbados Blackbelly Sheep which are similar in color but do not have any horns...

History

The American Blackbelly sheep is a hair sheep, originally developed by crossbreeding programs involving primarily Mouflon and Barbados Blackbelly. Resulting hybrids produced poor horn growth that interfered with the animals' faces. Repeated back crossing on the Mouflon improved horn growth to the extent that the hybrid attracted the attention of trophy hunters. Eventually, a strain of exotic looking animals with massive horns evolved and came to be referred to as "Corsican" in reference to the origin of the Mouflon ancestors. The original cross has subsequently been developed into several distinctive breeds of hair sheep. The American Blackbelly is a breed of Corsican descent that is readily identifiable by a very well-defined coat pattern and is registered by the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep Association International. Rams generally display spectacular horns, while ewes generally are polled (hornless.) The sheep sport a distinctive hair coat in a range of tan to brown to red, with dramatic black markings.

The American Blackbelly is a thrifty, energetic, small- to medium-sized sheep with a strong flocking instinct. It is well adapted to a broad range of environments, breeding goals, and management styles. On the farm, it is desired for its productivity and thriftiness, great prolificacy, and fairly low maintenance. Mature ewes generally have two to three or more lambs in any season, and depending on management, are capable of three litters every year and a half or so. They are very good mothers. Because of their fecundity and out-of-season breeding, ewes are suited to an accelerated lambing program.

American Blackbelly sheep will grow more or less winter wool, mostly in response to local winter conditions, which is entirely cast in spring/summer to reveal a coarse, flat hair coat with distinctive, antelope-like markings. It is never docked or sheared.

Availability of Lambs

We expect our crop of lambs in Spring and may have some registered lambs available for purchase. Check with us in March/April/May if you are interested. Contact Us.