Barbados Black Belly

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.

Barbados Black Belly
At the small ruminant project at Virginia State University in 2001
Other names
  • Barbados Black Belly
  • Black Belly
  • Barbados Barriga Nigra[1]
Country of originBarbados
Distribution25 countries world-wide, mainly Caribbean and South America[1]
Usemeat
Traits
Face colourblack, brown
Horn statuspolled
Notes
good resistance to heat and parasites
An ewe

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.

History

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 0.25–0.5 million 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]

Characteristics

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]

Use

The Black Belly is reared primarily for meat.[9]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barbados Blackbelly.
  1. Transboundary breed: Barbados Black Belly. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2015.
  2. R.K. Rastogi, H.E. Williams, F.C. Youssef (1980). Barbados Blackbelly Sheep. In: Ian Lauder Mason (editor) (1980). Prolific Tropical Sheep. FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 17. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9251008450.
  3. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  4. Janet Vorwald Dohner (2001). The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds. New Haven, Connecticut; London: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300088809.
  5. H.A. Fitzhugh (1984). Hair Sheep: Meat Production Without Wool. In: Frank H. Baker, Mason E. Miller (editors) (2019) [1984]. Sheep And Goat Handbook, volume 4. Abingdon; New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780367287238, pages 415–424.
  6. Breed data sheet: Barbados Blackbelly / United States of America (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed July 2022.
  7. Misno (18 May 2013). Tista Waringin Berhasil Temukan Pakan Penentu Kelamin Domba (in Indonesian). Medan Bisnis Daily. Archived 6 January 2021.
  8. André M. de Almeida (2018). Barbados Blackbelly: the Caribbean ovine genetic resource. Tropical Animal Health and Production. 50: 239–250. doi:10.1007/s11250-017-1475-5.
  9. Breed data sheet: Barbados Black belly / Grenada (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed July 2022.
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