Barbados Blackbelly

The Barbados Blackbelly is a hair sheep that came together on the island of Barbados, out of African hair sheep crossed with European wooled breeds brought over from the mid-1600s. It sheds rather than needing shearing, handles heat, and does well on poor pasture.

Every pure Barbados Blackbelly in the United States traces to one importation. Dr. Lemuel Goode of North Carolina State brought a small number in directly from the island in the 1970s. That flock was sold to a private breeder in 1996, and a handful of breeders then formed an informal cooperative to hold on to the genetics that were left, because the breed was in the process of disappearing here.

Get this distinction right before you buy. Barbados Blackbelly sheep are naturally polled. They were used to create the American Blackbelly, which is a separate modern breed with horns and more size. One association represents breeders of both, but only the Barbados Blackbelly is on the Conservation Priority List, and this catalogue lists the two separately for that reason.

The coloring is reddish brown or tan, with black belly, black legs, and black bars on the face.