Texas St. Croix and Barbados Lambs
My sister-in-law and her husband live on the Texas grasslands on Rock Dove Ranch. The Bencals raise St. Croix sheep, Barbados sheep and white doves for dove releases at ceremonies. This spring several lambs – ewes and rams — were born. My sister-in-law took these heart-throb photos of the new additions to their herd.
Give up your life in the city? Move to the middle of the Texas grasslands on a ranch far away from the conveniences of modern life? Is this a dream?
The St. Croix lambs are white, haired sheep. They originated in the Caribbeans, on the Island of St. Croix. The sheep are descended from sheep from West Africa slave trade and European wooled sheep that were brought to the Caribbean beginning in the 1600’s.
In 1975, Dr. Warren Foote of Utah State University imported several ewes and rams for their selective traits from St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. He bred them to further develop desired characteristics, thus developing the recognized American St. Croix breed.
The Barbados sheep come from the Island of Barbados. They are also short haired and have variations of brown color. Like the St. Croix, they have adapted to live in the humidity of warm weather and are more resistant to parasite diseases than other sheep.
The Bencal’s ranch is Rock Dove Ranch in the grasslands of Texas. For more information visit their WEB sites, listed below.
WEB Sites for Rock Dove Ranch:
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