Articles about Raising Blackbelly Sheep

Critterhaven believes that there is simply no good resource for blackbelly breeders who want to learn more about their sheep and how to raise them. We've written a lot of articles to help give you reliable information.

Barn Setup illustrating how a small pole barn can contain both a handling chute as well as lambing jugs, a stanchion, and a feeding area.
Accelerated Breeding Chart provides a convenient timetable to schedule your breedings so that ewes can produce two litters in 12 months.
Blackbellies—Why and Why Not? Article published in the November 2007 issue of The Shepherd Magazine and also presented to the North American Hair Sheep Symposium at San Angelo, TX, to introduce blackbellies to new breeders and to explain the pros and cons of the two breeds. PDF 3.6MB (big file because it is full of great pictures)
Barbados Blackbelly Stewards Needed Article published in the Sept/Oct 2007 American Livestock Breeds Conservancy newsletter concerning the need for more people becoming involved in the conservation of the breed.
Raising Bummer Lambs on a Bottle provides emergency information to help keep a rejected lamb alive.
8 Easy Steps for Complying with the Federal Scrapie Eradication Program is the best info available in an easy-to-understand format. PDF 521KB
Delivery Date Chart gives you the corresponding lambing date for any day you breed your ewes. PDF 246KB
Garry Vroegh on Hair Sheep provides some good wisdom about selecting and raising hair sheep.
Genetics of Scrapie is a brief introduction that gives you the basics of the disease.
Conservation Breeding—How to Grow Your Flock with Only One Ram describes in lay terms the complicated breeding program designed by the American Livestock Breeding Conservancy (ALBC) to help rare breeds increase their population and genetic diversity. HTML with option to download PDF 105 KB
History and Preservation of Barbados Blackbelly Sheep slide show that puts into perspective as much information as is currently known about how the breed began and how American Blackbelly sheep were derived from it. Great photos, big PDF 1.6MB
Linda Sakiewitz shares her views on Barbados Blackbelly sheep. She and her husband, Claude Hughes, purchased North Carolina State University's purebred research flock descended from the sheep originally imported from Barbados in 1904.
A Short Pencil Is Better than a Long Memory discusses the importance of recordkeeping and tagging with clear instructions on how to do both. PDF 312KB