The Appenninica is a modern Italian breed of sheep from the central Apennine Mountains.[4]: 17 It is raised principally in the regions of Tuscany and Umbria, but also in Abruzzo, Emilia–Romagna, Lazio and the Marche.[5]: 182 It was created in the 1970s by cross-breeding and selective breeding of various local sheep of those regions with the Bergamasca and with Ile-de-France and Berrichon du Cher stock from France.
 | |
| Conservation status | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Italy |
| Distribution | |
| Standard | MIPAAF |
| Use | meat |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Height | |
| Skin colour | unpigmented |
| Wool colour | white |
| Face colour | white |
| Horn status | polled in both sexes |
| |
It is a coarse-wool breed, and is raised primarily for meat.[5]: 183
History
editThe Appenninica was created in the 1970s by cross-breeding and subsequent selection of local breeds – including the Bariscianese, the Casentinese, the Chietina Varzese, the Pagliarola, the Perugina del Piano, the Pomarancina, the Senese delle Creti and the Vissana – with Bergamasca rams and with the French Ile-de-France and Berrichon du Cher. The aim was to increase both the size and the meat yield.[5]: 182 It was officially recognised as a breed in 1980,[5]: 182 and a herd-book was established in 1981.[2] It is raised principally in the regions of Tuscany and Umbria, but also in the neighbouring regions of Abruzzo, Emilia–Romagna, Lazio and the Marche.[5]: 182
It is one of the seventeen autochthonous Italian sheep breeds for which a genealogical herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.[4]: 17 From 1993 to 2007, the population of the Appenninica declined from over 160000 to 3438.[2] In 2013 total numbers for the breed were 9791[6] or 15551;[2] in 2023 the registered population was 7297, with 6447 breeding ewes and 367 rams distributed in 119 flocks.[2]
Characteristics
editThe Appenninica is polled (hornless) in both sexes; the ears are carried horizontally. The average weight for mature rams is 78 kg (170 lb); average height at the withers is 77 cm (30 in) and average length 79 cm (31 in).[3] When mature, ewes weigh on average 56 kg, are 69 cm at the withers and are 73 cm long.[3]
The breed is well adapted to the terrain of the Apennine Mountains, Emilia and Abruzzo regions of Italy.
Use
editThe Appenninica is reared principally for meat, usually either for spring lamb or for heavy lambs; lambs weigh about 4.2 kg at birth, about 14 kg at 45 days and about 24 kg at 90 days.[5]: 183 The milk yield is some 100–120 kg per lactation, with a fat content of 6%–7%; most of it goes to the lambs, some may be used to make pecorino cheeses.[5]: 183
Rams yield about 2.5 kg (6 lb) of wool while ewes provide 1.5 kg.[5]: 183 The mean fibre diameter is 30.6 μ, and the mean staple length 56 mm.[7]: 270
References
edit- ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Breed data sheet: Appenninica / Italy (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed November 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Caratteri tipici e indirizzi di miglioramento della razza Appenninica (in Italian). Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali. Accessed May 2014.
- ^ a b Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. Accessed September 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN 9788850652594.
- ^ Consistenze Provinciali della Razza 26 Appenninica: Anno 2013 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed September 2013.
- ^ Francesca Camilli, Alfonso Crisci, Antonio Mauro, Laura Bacci, Sara Di Lonardo, Enrico Vagnoni, Pierpaolo Duce (2015). A Preliminary Characterization of Wools from Italian Native Sheep Breeds: Opportunities for New Productions and the Development of Rural Areas. Journal of Natural Fibers. 12 (3): 265–275. doi:10.1080/15440478.2014.920287. (subscription required).
Further reading
edit- R. Bozzi, P. Degl'Innocenti, P. Rivera Diaz, L. Nardi, A. Crovetti, C. Sargentini, A. Giorgetti (July 2009). Genetic characterization and breed assignment in five Italian sheep breeds using microsatellite markers. Small Ruminant Research 85 (1): 50–57. (Abstract; (subscription required) for full article).
- Emiliano Lasagna, Vincenzo Landi, Matteo Bianchi, Amparo Martínez Martínez, Francesca Maria Sarti (2009). Genetic characterization of Appenninica sheep breed by microsatellites. Italian Journal of Animal Science 8 (2s) (Proceedings of the 18th ASPA Congress, Palermo, 9–12 June 2009): 96–98.
- G. Filippini, F. Aloisio, F. Cecchi, M. Biagetti, F. Macchioni, R. Ciampolini, G. Venditti, E. Ciani, E. Mazzanti, C. Sebastiani and D. Cianci (2006). An investigation on the genetic resistance to Parasitical Fauna in Appenninica sheep breed. Proceedings of the 8th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 13–18 August 2006: 38–41.
- F. Cecchi, R. Ciampolini, F. Macchioni, M. Biagetti, E. Ciani, G. Filippini, E. Mazzanti, M. Tancredi, P. Papa, and D. Deni (2006). The Genetic resistance to Coccidia in Appenninica sheep. Proceedings of the 8th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 13–18 August 2006: 162–165.
- Lancioni H, Di Lorenzo P, Ceccobelli S, Perego UA, Miglio A, Landi V, Antognoni MT, Sarti FM, Lasagna E, Achilli A. (2013 ). Phylogenetic Relationships of Three Italian Merino-Derived Sheep Breeds Evaluated through a Complete Mitogenome Analysis. PLOS One. 8 (9): e73712. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0073712.