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Corse/Corsican
French
EFABIS Data
 |
International Name |
Corse |
|
Local Name |
Corse |
|
Location |
Corse |
|
Breeding females
(year) |
100.000 |
|
Trend of population size |
Stable |
|
Flock book established |
1975 |
Origin – history
Since 1960 there
has been about 10% annual infusion of Sarde from Italy but this has
been recently stopped since the specifications for the “AOC Brocciu”,
which was created in 1998, forbids the use of any other breed or
crossbreds.
Breed description
The animals are
small and very hardy, living outdoors in arid Mediterranean
grassland and mountainous areas, yet productive in the difficult
environment. In spite of difficult conditions this small ewe can be
milked for 181 days after weaning of the lamb at 35 days old,
producing 134 litres of milk (UPRA, 2004). Around 20.000 ewes are in
the official milk recoding scheme. A few farmers on the plains use
crosses with other milk breeds, but it is estimated that 100% of the
ewes are kept as pure-bred.
The animals are white, black, brown, and grey with some single
coloured variations, both sexes usually having rolled horns with
slight spiraling for the males, the ewes have smaller horns and some
females exhibiting stumps instead. They have good fleece coverage,
with the legs also covered. The mature rams weigh 65kg, and the ewes
weigh 35kg.
Conservation activities
The Corsican is a
milk sheep breed constituting the majority of the sheep population
in Corsica. There are an estimated 100 000 ewes and 3.500 breeding
rams, 8 % of which are used for artificial insemination. From an
estimated total of 600 flocks, 73 are registered with UPRA Brebis
Corse, with a flock book established in 1975 and 20 000 ewes
registered. Performance recording accounts for 73 flocks and 20 000
are recorded. The average flock size is 288 ewes.
Contact: UPRA
BREBIS CORSE Domaine de Casabianda 20270 Aléria – France
Tel-Fax : + 33 (0) 4 95 57 10 91 uprabrebiscorse@worldonline.fr
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