The Appenninica is a modern Italian

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

from the central

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

. It is raised principally in the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

and

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

, but also in

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

, Emilia–Romagna,

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

and the

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

. It was created in the 1970s by

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

and

selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...

of various local sheep of those regions with the Bergamasca and with Ile-de-France and Berrichon du Cher stock from France. It is a coarse-

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

breed, and is raised primarily for

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

History

The Appenninica was created in the 1970s by

and subsequent

selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strat ...

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 The Vissana is a breed of domestic sheep from the province of Macerata, in the Marche in central Italy. It may be extinct. It takes its name from the comune of Visso in the Monti Sibillini, and is or was raised mostly in that area, extending ...

– 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. It was officially recognised as a breed in 1980, and a

herd-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders wh ...

was established in 1981. It is raised principally in the

and

, but also in the neighbouring regions of

, Emilia–Romagna,

and the

. It is one of the seventeen autochthonous Italian sheep breeds for which a genealogical herdbook is kept by the

Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia The Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, or roughly "national association of Sheep farming, pastoralists", is the Italian national body responsible for the administration of sheep- and goat-breeding. It maintains the herd books for more th ...

, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders. From 1993 to 2007, the population of the Appenninica declined from over to . In 2013 total numbers for the breed were or ; in 2023 the registered population was , with breeding ewes and rams distributed in 119 flocks.

Characteristics

The Appenninica is polled (hornless) in both sexes; the ears are carried horizontally. The average weight for mature rams is ; average height at the withers is and average length . When mature, ewes weigh on average 56 kg, are 69 cm at the withers and are 73 cm long. The breed is well adapted to the terrain of the

, Emilia and

regions of Italy.

Use

The Appenninica is reared principally for meat, usually either for spring lamb or for heavy lambs; lambs weigh about at birth, about at 45 days and about at 90 days. The milk yield is some per lactation, with a fat content of ; most of it goes to the lambs, some may be used to make ''

pecorino Pecorino is an Italian hard cheese produced from sheep's milk. The name derives from , which means ' sheep' in Italian. Overview Of the six main varieties of pecorino, all of which have protected designation of origin (PDO) status under ...

'' cheeses. Rams yield about of wool while ewes provide 1.5 kg. The mean fibre diameter is , and the mean staple length .

References

* 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; 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. Sheep breeds Sheep breeds originating in Italy {{bots, deny=Citation bot

History

Characteristics

Use

References

Further reading