At 06:20 PM 1/8/2009, you wrote: >I have been looking at different types of sheep to raise on my >acerage. I have fallen for black belly sheep and would like to ask >some advice. >Since I have never raised sheep before my first question is should I >start out with black belly sheep? Are they an easy breed to learn >with? >Also where can I find black belly sheep in Alberta Canada? Are there >many in Alberta? > >Thanks
They are an excellent starter sheep. Hardy, thrifty, and smart, they don't require a lot of human attention. There are only 2 real down sides to the breed-their small size, and their flighty temperament. The second can be ameliorated somewhat, but only the bottle babies have any chance of being docile like a Suffolk or Dorper. You may eventually find yourself wanting a larger, faster growing breed, but many people are quite content with BB sheep. As to finding them in Canada, I've found listings for 4 different sheep raisers in Canada: From http://www.blackbellysheep.info/breeder/breeders.html#canada Mike Andresen 20244 Twp Rd 510 Sherwood Park, Alberta Canada T8G1E4 (780) 662-2032 Email: <mailto:mandr...@telusplanet.net>mandr...@telusplanet.net and from http://www.blackbellysheep.org/directory.html Pat Freeman 29147 Thomsonline RR3 Dutton, Ontario NOL IJO Canada (519) 762-2446 Helmut Lang RR2 Mabel Lake Road 2041 Lumby, British Columbia VOE 2GO Canada (250) 547-6253 <mailto:hl...@junction.net>hl...@junction.net Hilda Tuffin D & H Tuffin Farm 27885 Talbot Line, R. R. #2 Wallacetown, Ontario N0L 2M0 Canada (519) 762-3501 or (519) 319-5950 <mailto:tuff...@netscape.ca>tuff...@netscape.ca _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info