Barbados Blackbelly Sheep

For complete information on Barbados Blackbelly sheep view blackbellysheep.org   To research the related breeds of hair sheep, search the web using keywords hair sheep, Barbado sheep, American Blackbelly sheep and NABSR. We raise the polled Barbados Blackbelly sheep.

Other breeding sheep for sale are listed here sale page .       See our meat page for processed lamb prices.        Click on butcher stock to purchase live butcher lambs.

Barbados Blackbelly  prices:

Ewe lambs, weaning age - $125.00

Ewe lambs, breeding age - $175.00

Ram lambs, weaning age -  $125.00

Ram lambs, breeding age - $175.00

Rams (adults, usually with prodigy on site) - $250.00

Bottle-fed ewe lambs and/or wethers  are sometimes available. They are best taken while still on the bottle so you can get them to "adopt" and accept you as mom.    $125.00 prior to weaning age. 

Magic sheep - they can turn grass, weeds, leaves, hay and even grain in to great tasting, nutritious lamb !   This places them in the same league as my dairy goats that amaze me my converting poison ivy, sunflowers, okra, weeds, hay, etc. into milk.  The taste of Blackbelly lamb is a gourmet treat.

If you desire to sell lambs to youth groups, plan ahead. In our experience pet (tame as the family dog)  Blackbellys can be produced only by bottle feeding from birth or feeding on a dairy goat.  This is o.k. for ewe lambs, but dangerous with ram lambs. Most bottle fed ram lambs become aggressive - they will butt you without provocation.  Below is a photo of Chloe (lamb) that was raised nursing a bottle AND Daisy the Great Pyrenees. Daisy had a litter of pups at the time and didn't mind the lamb.

 This breed of sheep is naturally polled (hornless).  The meat is lean and delicious. Surplus ram lambs should be castrated and butchered at about a year of age. Ewe lambs can be butchered about the same age, just make sure they are not bred.  The meat is very versatile. For beginners (beef users) have your lambs processed into familiar cuts of beef - ground, roasts (3 pounds is good) and chops (small steaks). Order the lamb cookbook and/or CD from www.blackbellysheep.org and enjoy your own clean, health meat. Unlike processing a steer, you will have a small amount of meat to store and consume. And a small ruminant that is easy to haul to the slaughter facility. Many folks process their own lambs if they have the time and equipment.

Save a rare breed by eating it ?  Our lamb and eggs are produced by breeds listed with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. For more information visit   http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html

If you want your Blackbelly sheep to be "tamer" and curious, leave them alone.  They don't like to be caught and "held" or groomed. It makes them flightier and difficult to pen when you need to do something to them. Chasing them makes you the predator !

Sheep are nice critters that mind their own business, happily clearing your fields of broad-leaf weeds, shrubs and poison ivy. They leave the grass for last.  This makes them nice grazing companions to cattle and horses. Cattle and horses love the grass but tend to leave the "weeds" alone, thus resulting in an uneven pasture. Keeping a few hair sheep for weed control will prove beneficial. You don't have to breed them, just have a few wethers (castrated males) or ewes (females) for an easy care flock.  It is a waste of time and money (not to mention fossil fuels and machinery) to mow grass and/or weeds or spray toxic weed killers.

Co-species grazing helps with parasite control. Grazing a few sheep with your cattle and/or horses is a positive contribution to pasture management.