We were first drawn to American Blackbelly Sheep because of their intelligent, majestic appearance, excellent mothering instincts and mild meat. The rams boast large curled horns, making them almost resemble a wild mountain sheep and add interest to any homestead.

Blackbelly’s are a hair sheep, and therefore do not require shearing. Though without human interaction they are known to be a flighty breed, our sheep our very personable, and allow us to hand feed them, give them a scratch behind the ear, or even milk them to supplement our bottle lamb milk. They are excellent mothers, and because of the lack of wool (and the oils wool contains) have better flavor, in our opinion.

Benjamin’s uncle Steve Thom always had this breed on his farm in Minnesota Lake, and after doing a little research on them and finding they are hardy, easy to care for and require no shearing or tail docking we decided to start a flock with six BBSAI foundation ewes that originated from Wisconsin. Finding registered breeding stock in Minnesota is difficult, and we are the only farm we can locate in the state that has an active membership with the BBSAI. If you are a breeder please reach out to us, we would love to learn more about your genetics and experience with this special breed.