Merinizzata Italiana
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- Male: 70 kg
- Female:55 kg
| Country of origin | Italy |
|---|---|
| Distribution | southern and central Italy |
| Use | dual-purpose, meat and wool |
| Traits | |
| Weight |
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| Height |
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| Skin colour | unpigmented |
| Wool colour | white |
| Face colour | white |
| Horn status | polled |
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The Merinizzata Italiana is a modern Italian breed of dual-purpose sheep from southern Italy.[1]: 246 [2] It was created in the twentieth century by cross-breeding local Italian stock with imported Merino breeds from France and Germany. It is reared in central and southern Italy, principally in Abruzzo.
The Merinizzata Italiana is a modern breed, created over several decades in the twentieth century by cross-breeding of indigenous Gentile di Puglia and Sopravissana stock with imported Merino breeds such as the French Berrichon du Cher and Île-de-France, and the German Merinolandschaf.[1]: 246 [3]: 84 The aim was to produce a good meat breed without sacrificing wool quality.[3]: 84
It is reared mainly in the southern and central Italian regions of Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, the Marche, Molise, Puglia and Umbria.[1]: 246 It is one of the seventeen autochthonous Italian sheep breeds for which a genealogical herd-book is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.[3]: 84
Total numbers for the breed were estimated in the year 2000 at 600000 head, of which 19000 were registered in the herd-book;[1]: 247 in 2013 the number recorded in the herd-book was 27260.[4]