Barbados Black Belly

Lore & Background

The breed's history on Barbados begins after 1624, when only pigs were present. By about 1650, two types of sheep had been introduced: European wool sheep and hair sheep from West Africa. By the mid-eighteenth century, the wool sheep had disappeared, leaving only hair sheep, as described by Griffith Hughes in 1750. In 1980, purebred Black Belly sheep made up about one third of the approximately 30,000 sheep on Barbados, with most of the rest being similar hair sheep.

Reader's Guide

The Barbados Black Belly is significant as a highly prolific tropical hair sheep, well adapted to harsh conditions including parasites, poor-quality grasses, and severe heat and humidity. Its ability to thrive in tropical environments and produce multiple lambs per litter makes it valuable for meat production in regions where wool sheep struggle. The breed has been exported widely and is now found in twenty-five countries. In the United States, it has been cross-bred with Corsican Mouflon to create the American Blackbelly, a trophy animal with large horns in males, numbering 250,000–500,000 in Texas. A cross with St. Croix was also developed and exported to Sumatra in 1994. Despite its global distribution, the original Barbados Black Belly breed is relatively rare in the United States, with only 212 head reported in 2014. Its legacy lies in its contribution to meat production and as a foundation for hybrid breeds in sport hunting.

Did You Know?

• The Barbados Black Belly has an average litter size of approximately 2, which is unusually high for a tropical sheep.
• In 1980, purebred Black Belly sheep made up about one third of the total sheep population on Barbados, which was then about 30,000.
• The breed has been exported to twenty-five countries in the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
• In the United States, cross-breeding with Corsican Mouflon produced the American Blackbelly, of which 250,000–500,000 exist in Texas.