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Barnyard Buddies:  Barbados Black Belly Sheep  |
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Wendy Flower
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Wendy
Gladstone
ND
USA
39 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 29 2015 : 9:35:58 PM
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I would like to start talking with others about Black Belly Sheep. I have them and just this fall was able to keep a rejected lamb alive. She was born during the full Eclipse we had a couple months ago. I was unaware that a ewe was lambing and once the sky clouded over I got ready for bed. Then out my back window I heard coyotes and a lamb freaking out. So, over my nighty I dawned a pistol belt, a coat, rubber boots and grabbed a flashlight. I just followed the sound through the darkness expecting to find an injured lamb. She turned out to be fine, but still damp from birth and a light rain. Her ewe was a first time "mom" and was in the barn giving birth to a twin sibling. Twins are rare for a first birth, I think. I put the lost baby in the barn with her family and went out to scare off any remaining coyote activity.
In the morning I found my little baby all excluded and cold. When she tried to find a mommy to nurse off of they would butt her down the hill. So I raised her. I named her Annie. I love her so much and now I am just smitten with my sheeps. Perhaps I'll tell you more a bit later. Till then I give you a picture of Annie napping while I dig my purple potatoes. 
Does anyone else have this breed? They've been saved from the edge of extinction. All our critters are Heritage.
Wendy Kay,
Guns & Sewing Machines
Sister 4700
http://earthairand.blogspot.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SewKayBoutique |
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hudsonsinaf
True Blue Farmgirl
3162 Posts
Shannon
Rozet
Wyoming
USA
3162 Posts |
Posted - Nov 30 2015 : 02:24:48 AM
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I have never heard of this breed before, though honestly, we are just starting to look. We go back and forth regarding sheep, as they seem rather impatient to die... Either that or they just lack common sense ;) With that said, I would love to have some for both the wool and the eat. We are looking to move to Wyoming in about a year, and it would be there that we would raise them, if we decide to get some. I will have to look up this breed and see what I can learn. I like the idea of raising strictly heritage breeds. What other animals do you own?
~ Shannon
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
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ClaireSky
True Blue Farmgirl
1792 Posts
Julie
Arcadia
WI
USA
1792 Posts |
Posted - Nov 30 2015 : 07:24:20 AM
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Wow! What an interesting story about little Annie. Please keep us updated on her. She is so cute. 
Julie
Farmgirl #399
May 2010 Farmgirl of the Month
Folks will know how large your soul is by the way you treat a dog ... Charles F. Doran |
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Wendy Flower
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Wendy
Gladstone
ND
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - Nov 30 2015 : 2:14:30 PM
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I'm afraid I may have developed a bit of a co-dependent relationship with Annie. I'm a little too good at perceiving animal desires and attempting to fill them. So she of course imprinted on me and when she was really little I used to bring her in the house and sleep with her. I took to sleeping fully clothed on my bed which I covered with an easily washable packing blanket. My husband was out of town, so I could get away with that. She has since started sleeping outside and does not make the racket that she did before. I had been afraid that she would call the coyotes to the herd if she didn't shut up. Coyotes are really bad this year. We've lost two Scottish Highland calves to them this year. We also have European Black Hogs. The chickens I'm raising right now are not eggsactly heritage breed, they are more of a mutt. Known as Easter Eggers they vary in appearance and in color of egg they lay. I'm a sucker for multicolored eggs.
Anyhow, about Annie. She's upset that the other lambs get to hang out with their moms all day and she does not. I guess, because she baaaaas for attention a lot! At times I've wondered if she isn't a bit off. I find her eating weeds that the other sheep shun. She gets scours (diarrhea) often. Maybe because her instincts as to what to eat are off. She is the product of in-breeding as she is the offspring of a ewe who was impregnated by her fathering ram. I really need to get a new ram! We try to eat them up so the generations do not get too strung out like that, but had been busy and not harvested in a timely manner. Well it's all a learning experience.
Shannon, this is a "hair breed" of sheep, in that they don't usually have much of a fleece, and what they do sheds naturally. They are raised for the meat, and as such are so tasty they almost went extinct. They are super skittish if you don't bottle feed and sleep with them...ha ha.
Here is a pic of a very little Annie sleeping on a pad in my kitchen. 1 week old.
Wendy Kay,
Critters, sewing machines & gardens Oh my.
Sister 4700
http://earthairand.blogspot.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SewKayBoutique |
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Bonnie Ellis
True Blue Farmgirl
2474 Posts
Bonnie
Minneapolis
Minnesota
USA
2474 Posts |
Posted - Nov 30 2015 : 5:26:37 PM
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Wendy, so fun to hear about Annie. I can just see you as a pistol-pack in' mama heading out to ward off coyotes in your night gown. There are coyotes here too only on the outskirts of town usually. But my neighbor lost chickens when a coyote got through his fence.
grandmother and orphan farmgirl |
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Wendy Flower
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Wendy
Gladstone
ND
USA
39 Posts |
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Wendy Flower
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Wendy
Gladstone
ND
USA
39 Posts |
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Barnyard Buddies: Barbados Black Belly Sheep |
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Barbados Black Belly Sheep
