Bovec sheep

Bovec
Other names
  • Plezzana
  • Trentarka
  • Krainer Steinschaf
Country of origin Italy
Use Meat, milk
Traits
Weight Male: 45 kg (99 lb)
  Female: 45 kg (99 lb)
Wool color off-white, brown or black
Face color white, sometimes spotted
Notes
dual-purpose, milk and meat
Sheep
Ovis aries

The Bovec sheep (Slovene: bovška ovca, Italian: Plezzana, German: Krainer Steinschaf) is a breed of domestic sheep from the upper valley of the Soča or Isonzo river, now in Slovenia.[1][2][3] The breed is named in both Slovenian and in Italian for the town of Bovec or Plezzo; in the Trenta valley it may also be called Trentarka. It is raised in the Soča valley in Slovenia, in the areas of Resia and Tarvisio in Friuli in Italy,[1] and in Styria and Carinthia in Austria.[4] The breed is raised for milk and for meat.[1]

Characteristics

Bovec sheep may be whitish, or in about 30% of cases, black or brown.[1] They have small ears, short, thin legs, and their belly is bare.[5] The back legs are inclined forward so that they can walk on steep meadows easily.[2]

Height of rams is 64 cm (25 in) and ewes 60 cm (24 in) at the withers.[1] A breeding ewe provides approximately 1.23 lambs per litter, lactates for 210 days and in that time yields 221 kg (487 lb) of milk with 6.3% fat.[2]

Numbers

In 2012 a population in Slovenia of 3500 was reported to DAD-IS.[2] Other sources estimate the number of pure-bred examples there at 1200.[1][5] The Krainer Steinschaf population in Austria was reported to be in the range 2719–4000 in 2012.[6]

The Plezzana is one of the forty-two autochthonous local sheep breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders;[5] in 2013 the herdbook was empty.[7] The population in Italy is estimated at 40–50 head.[1][5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN 9788850652594. p. 260–261.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Breed data sheet: bovška ovca/Slovenia. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.
  3. ↑ Breed data sheet: Plezzana/Italy. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.
  4. ↑ Krainer Steinschaf (in German). ARCHE Austria: Verein zur Erhaltung seltener Nutztierrassen. Accessed September 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. p. 67. Accessed September 2013.
  6. ↑ Breed data sheet: Krainer Steinschaf/Austria. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.
  7. ↑ Consistenze Provinciali della Razza 01 Anno 2013 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed September 2013.
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