Origin
Blackbelly Barbados sheep are from the Caribbean. They have evolved from sheep breeds in West Africa and were integrated - as food - in the rural farming by slaves and by the Spanish, Dutch and English. It was only much later that the Agricultural Authority of British colonial government in Barbados developed the local sheep breed.
Important features:
Body: medium-frame, strong shoulders, deep chest, narrow waist, the shoulder is higher than the back line, especially for rams with high necks, backs of sufficient width, low weight.
Coat: Hair sheep, creation of lanolin, to 2cm of hair and hair care in winter with a light undercoat, the density and the length of organisms depend on the location and prevailing climate, should not be 4 cm in length, from goat's mane bristling and lateral thoracic region, and molt in late spring, completely rejecting the undercoat.
Design: coat color is brown, white and black animals should be excluded from breeding, the white parts are allowed up to 10%, but undesirable!
The lower jaw, mouth, nose, ears inside the abdomen, chest, inner thighs, underside of the tail and feet are black on the back of the head (sometimes in the neck) are " black spot "of two parallel strips above the tears running out the pit, typical" face Bagden roof face. "
Head: noble and lean, elegant shape of the head of both sexes polled goats with "Roman nose" very masculine, with pastures of the skull appears by the long ears, straight nose and mane missing, length of the head of the horn bud mouth about. 25 cm and 15 cm wide.
Ears: Small, lying on its side, almost horizontally oriented and ear length black, with the goats up to 10 cm in the pasture until 12 to 14 cm, lambs in the early days of floppy ears .
Eyes: dark brown iris, eyelids and lashes.
Tail: long well coated, about to hock, black, white tail tip, or calendula are allowed if they exceed 15% of the total length.
The tail must not be copied!
Claw: hard and black, hoof problems very insensitive.
Oestrus: assaisonal extremely fertile, and easily lost lambing every 8 months, twins are usual, triplets and quadruplets are not uncommon, the ewes have a high milk production and are very affectionate mothers, the lambs are very vital.
The sheep should be assigned only when they have reached two-thirds of their growth, or approximately by the age of 1.5 years!
Tronc: with almost no subcutaneous fat, the meat is dark, well marbled, low cholesterol, no exotic taste resembles that of deer.
Size: rams of 70 to 100 cm (withers)
ewes from 50 to 80 cm (withers)
Weight: 50-80 kg rams
ewes 30 - 50 kg
The lambs are slaughtered at about 7 months and make as to 25 kg (eviscerated) on the scale.
