American Blackbelly
| Conservation status | FAO (2007): not listed[1]: 126 |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Distribution | Texas |
| Standard | International Barbados Blackbelly Sheep Association |
| Use | trophy hunting |
| Traits | |
| Weight |
|
| Height |
|
| Hair color | variable, from light fawn to dark mahogany; belly and inside of legs black |
| Face color | black badger-face bars |
| Horn status | rams horned, ewes usually polled (hornless) |
| |
The American Blackbelly is a modern American hybrid breed of sheep. It is a hair sheep, growing a hair coat rather than a wool fleece. [2]: 753
It was developed in Texas by crossing sheep of the Barbados Black Belly and Rambouillet breeds with Corsican mouflon.[3] This produced a horned animal with a heavier carcase and increased muscle mass compared to the original black-bellied breed. It is closely similar to the Barbado, another Texas hybrid with similar origins.[2]: 752
Characteristics
The American Blackbelly has the coloration of the Barbados breed – a brown hair coat ranging from light fawn to deep mahogany, with black underbelly and black insides of the ears and legs. Rams are horned, sometimes heavily so; ewes are usually polled, but may also be scurred or horned.[2]: 753 It is a small sheep, with heights and weights closely similar to those of the Barbados BlackBelly: ewes weigh some 34–43 kg and stand 60–70 cm at the shoulder; rams weigh from 50 to 64 kg with a height of some 76–81 cm.[2]: 753
Use
The sheep are usually reared for trophy hunting,[4] but can also be raised for meat or kept for conservation grazing.[2]: 753
References
- ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
- ^ Valerie Porter, Ian Lauder Mason (2020). Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties (sixth edition). Wallingford; Boston: CABI. ISBN 9781789241532.
- ^ de Almeida, André M. (2017). "Barbados Blackbelly: the Caribbean ovine genetic resource". Tropical Animal Health and Production. 50 (2): 239–250. doi:10.1007/s11250-017-1475-5. PMID 29185138. S2CID 11683216 – via Springer Link.
,