American Blackbelly people

[alsea1]

I was wondering if there are any breeders of this breed in my area (Alsea, Philomath, Corvallis, Salem, Portland, Springfield Oregon).

I have a very nice ram lamb that I sure would like to trade for a ram lamb not related to mine.

Give me a pm if you do or know someone who does.

Thank you

 

[grover]

We are in MN and don't have any sheep yet, but are you willing to share your experience and knowledge regarding sheep keeping and American Black Bellies? My husband and I started with chickens a year ago, and they are proving themselves to be the gateway critter. After much research, American Black Belly sheep seem like a good breed. We will raise for meat. We can house up to 8 on our land, but plan to start with just two maybe next fall. What do we need to know about sheep in general and ABB specifically? I appreciate your help!

 

[alsea1]

Hi.
I'm fairly new to sheep myself so I have lots of learning to do yet.
I would be happy to try to answer any questions you have though. There are many on this forum that have tons of experience and know how . And they are pretty quick to jump in with advice if your having an emergency.
If meat is what your after you may want to consider dorper or katahdin. They have a larger carcass than the black belly. We got the black belly because we just love the exotic look of them. I will admit that my flock can be a bit flighty if new people come into the pasture. Fencing should be high enough that they cannot jump it if they are fleeing. They can leap very high when running. I opted to run hot wire on the inside of my fence to keep them from rubbing on it and the ram from beating on it. I am glad I did this. My fence is still like when we put it up. I cannot say that for the barn we built them. LOL The ram likes to beat on things.
We will be butchering some lambs soon. They are not that big yet, but I have way too many for my pasture at the moment so it must be done.
If boothcreek posts anything be sure and look. They have some wonderful looking animals.

 

[grover]

Thank you, Alsea1! I appreciate your tips and will continue searching this site. BYC has been immeasurably helpful and I'm glad to hear this is a good resource for sheep-help.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

We have American Blackbellies and we are processing our first ones tomorrow.

 

[Bossroo]

One of my across the street neighbors had 2 Black Bely rams as well as 1 Dorper ram to breed his 50 ewes. Fully 75% of the lambs born were the Dorper sired ones as well as 60% more twins. When time came to market all the lambs, The Dorper x lambs had much better conformation as well as 48% heavier weight. He made a 90% more profit on the Dorper X lambs.

 

[alsea1]

Black belly sheep are not heavy bodied like the Dorper.
They are a different class altogether.
But if you want a great tasting animal that is pleasing to look at Black bellies are great.
My exp so far has been good. Mine are great mothers and have not needed my help with anything.
They are easy to be around. No crowding or shoving even at feeding time.
They are great for small acreage.

 

[n8ivetxn]

I have Barbados Blackbelly sheep (the polled variety) and I love them. Alsea1 is right, I'm glad I bought them...
Yes, they are a little smaller than the average market sheep, but they make up for it in other ways! - Oh, also, rams don't throw twins - the ewes do! Sheep twins are not identical, hence, it is momma that produces multiples, not pappa

 

[alsea1]

Gosh. Thats good to know. So far none of my ewes has had twins. I was not sure about how that worked.
Oh well. I guess twins are not too important. I started out with three black belly sheep and now have seven, so I guess they are making up for it. LOL
I have only had them since last April.

 

[n8ivetxn]

In my book, nothing beats healthy ewes and lambs! I don't care if they twin or not, as long as they're all healthy