Future Goals (Please scroll down)
Caribe and her quadruplets
Future Goals
It takes some effort to learn the genetics behind your individual animals. We have been
breeding Barbados Blackbelly sheep long enough that we have familiarized ourselves with
the bloodlines we want to use to further propagate our flock. First we had to acquire the sheep
that have the traits we were looking for, then we bred them to see if they could produce what
we want. Remembering while pairing them with other chosen bloodlines who also have
desirable traits that we are interested in cultivating, that it is essential to always be moving
toward the "ideal" of the breed standard.
It has taken time to accomplish what we have done thus far. That is combining bloodlines
to see how they produce, actually deciding which traits were showing up that we wanted to
keep, and eliminating the ones that we didn't want. You will probably be doing the same
with your own flock, unless you have chosen to breed a commercial flock and your
objective is to focus on quantity rather than focusing totally on quality. Whichever you
choose is up to you. We have been breeding for quality since day one, and it is our intention
to continue in that direction. We are satisfied that we have improved the quality of our flock
to a place that is acceptable to us and coincides with the breed standard as well. Our
goal now, is to reproduce that type of sheep consistently, while improving certain unique
characteristics that have enamored us through the years. To make that a little easier,
we have decided to maintain a closed flock.
This form of breeding is known as linebreeding. We are breeding a particular line
(bloodline) of Barbados Blackbellies. At times, we will be inbreeding within those lines
to lock in certain traits. I have always understood inbreeding to be breeding mother to
son, father to daughter, or full brother to full sister. Anything more distantly related than
that within the same line is linebreeding. Some people will disagree with that equation,
but it has served us well for many years of breeding through many species and as the
saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" fits well here. By breeding this way, we can
expect the "best of the best" and the "worst of the worst", due to those hidden recessive
genes that pop up when one breeds anything. The best will be used for future generations,
the worst must be culled. We will only sell sheep for breeding stock that we at Lone Star
Farm would use for breeding. The sheep that show less desirable traits than what we
are looking for in breeding stock are sold as market lambs and are always delicious in
one of the recipes from the Lamb Lover's Cookbook. The cookbook was edited partly
by myself , and it is available through the BBSAI. It is one of only a handful of cookbooks
ever dedicated exclusively to lamb recipes. It is well worth the price to purchase it,
which is $16.75 plus S&H. For more information, go to the BBSAI website and click
on Gift Shop, then Cookbook.
Future Goals
It takes some effort to learn the genetics behind your individual animals. We have been
breeding Barbados Blackbelly sheep long enough that we have familiarized ourselves with
the bloodlines we want to use to further propagate our flock. First we had to acquire the sheep
that have the traits we were looking for, then we bred them to see if they could produce what
we want. Remembering while pairing them with other chosen bloodlines who also have
desirable traits that we are interested in cultivating, that it is essential to always be moving
toward the "ideal" of the breed standard.
It has taken time to accomplish what we have done thus far. That is combining bloodlines
to see how they produce, actually deciding which traits were showing up that we wanted to
keep, and eliminating the ones that we didn't want. You will probably be doing the same
with your own flock, unless you have chosen to breed a commercial flock and your
objective is to focus on quantity rather than focusing totally on quality. Whichever you
choose is up to you. We have been breeding for quality since day one, and it is our intention
to continue in that direction. We are satisfied that we have improved the quality of our flock
to a place that is acceptable to us and coincides with the breed standard as well. Our
goal now, is to reproduce that type of sheep consistently, while improving certain unique
characteristics that have enamored us through the years. To make that a little easier,
we have decided to maintain a closed flock.
This form of breeding is known as linebreeding. We are breeding a particular line
(bloodline) of Barbados Blackbellies. At times, we will be inbreeding within those lines
to lock in certain traits. I have always understood inbreeding to be breeding mother to
son, father to daughter, or full brother to full sister. Anything more distantly related than
that within the same line is linebreeding. Some people will disagree with that equation,
but it has served us well for many years of breeding through many species and as the
saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" fits well here. By breeding this way, we can
expect the "best of the best" and the "worst of the worst", due to those hidden recessive
genes that pop up when one breeds anything. The best will be used for future generations,
the worst must be culled. We will only sell sheep for breeding stock that we at Lone Star
Farm would use for breeding. The sheep that show less desirable traits than what we
are looking for in breeding stock are sold as market lambs and are always delicious in
one of the recipes from the Lamb Lover's Cookbook. The cookbook was edited partly
by myself , and it is available through the BBSAI. It is one of only a handful of cookbooks
ever dedicated exclusively to lamb recipes. It is well worth the price to purchase it,
which is $16.75 plus S&H. For more information, go to the BBSAI website and click
on Gift Shop, then Cookbook.
Several Lone Star ewes - December 2011
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Lone Star Farm | Barbados Blackbelly Sheep