Basco-Béarnaise

{{Short description|Basque breed of sheep}}

{{Infobox sheep breed

| name = Basco-Béarnaise

| image = Basco-Béarnaise face.JPG

| image_alt =

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| image_caption = Head

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| country = {{unbulleted list|Basque country}}

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| type =

| use =milk

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The Basco-Béarnaise or Vasca Carranzana is a breed of domestic sheep originating in the Basque country. It was developed from Basque and Béarnaise sheep during the 1960s to be a single-purpose milk breed.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/basco-bearnais/index.htm

|title=Basco-Béarnais

|work=Breeds of Livestock

|publisher=Oklahoma State University, Dept. of Animal Science

|accessdate=2009-05-15

|url-status=dead

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907225602/http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/basco-bearnais/index.htm

|archivedate=2008-09-07

}}

Origins

It derives from a family of sheep breeds from the Pyrénées with falling wool. It arose in the Béarnaise part of the Pyrénées. It has long been flocked across the Girondine plain to the Pyrénéan mountain pastures.

Morphology

File:Basco-bearnaise brebis troupeau.jpg]]

Its wool is long, white and hanging. Its horns form a spiral around the ear. Its head and hooves are coloured reddish-yellow.

Rams are horned and the ewes may be either horned or polled (hornless). Both sexes display white and are unicolored.

{{cite web

|url=http://dad.fao.org/

|title=Béarnais/France

|work=Breed data sheet

|publisher=Domestic Animal Diversity Information System

|accessdate=2009-05-15}}

The mature rams weigh {{convert|80|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and grow to {{convert|90|cm|in|abbr=on}} at the withers on average. Ewes grow to {{convert|75|cm|in|abbr=on}} at the withers and weigh {{convert|55|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.

Aptitude

It is a dairy breed, which issued from the AOC Ossau-Iraty, derived from the ewes of the Pyrénées. A ewe of this breed produces 120 litres over 130 days of lactation, producing a milk rich in matière grasse (7,42%) and in proteins (5,39%).

It is a rural breed, which lambs in spring and produces milk in the summer, passing on the richness of the Pyrénéan flora through its milk.

Image:Basco-Béarnaise_profil.JPG|Head of an ewe

Image:Basco-Béarnaise_troupeau.JPG|Flock of ewes near Arudy in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

See also

References

{{reflist}}

{{Sheep breeds of France}}

{{Basque animal breeds}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basco-Bearnaise}}

Category:Sheep breeds

Category:Basque domestic animal breeds

Category:Sheep breeds originating in Spain

Category:Sheep breeds originating in France

{{Sheep-stub}}