Charmoise
{{Short description|French breed of sheep}}
{{Infobox sheep breed
| name = Charmoise
| image = Charmoise01 SDA2011.jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption = At the Salon international de l'agriculture in Paris in 2011
| status = {{ubl|FAO (2007): not at risk{{r|barb|p=146}}|DAD-IS (2022): not at risk{{r|dad}}}}
| altname =
| country = France
| distribution = {{ubl|central western France|south-western France{{r|fge}}}}
| standard =
| use =
| maleweight = 80–95 kg{{r|cabi|p=781}}
| femaleweight = 55–65 kg{{r|cabi|p=781}}
| maleheight =
| femaleheight =
| skincolour =
| type =
| woolcolour =
| facecolour =
| horns =
| note =
}}
The Charmoise is a French breed of domestic sheep. It was created in the early nineteenth century by {{ill|Édouard Malingié|fr}}, by cross-breeding of Romney stock imported from the United Kingdom with local breeds including the Berrichon du Cher, Merino, {{ill|Solognote|fr}} and Tourangelle.{{r|cabi|p=781}} It is reared for both meat and wool.{{r|tiho}} Breed numbers fell from a peak of approximately {{val|650000}} in the 1960s to about {{val|122,000}} in 1983, to approximately {{val|21,000}} in 2001, and further to {{val|8100}} in 2014.{{r|cabi|p=781|dad|tiho}}
History
The Charmoise was created in the early nineteenth century by {{ill|Édouard Malingié|fr}} at his estate La Charmoise, in the département of Loir-et-Cher between Blois and Tours in central France.{{r|cabi|p=781|michaud|p2=249}} Romney rams imported from Kent in the United Kingdom were cross-bred with ewes of local breeds including the Berrichon du Cher, Merino, {{ill|Solognote|fr}} and Tourangelle, in the hope of combining the meat qualities of the former with the rusticity of the latter.{{r|cabi|p=781|michaud|p2=249}}
The breed was rapidly established, by 1820 at the latest. Its first appearance at an agricultural show was in 1852. In 1896 a breed society was established; in 1926 this was re-formed, and in 1927 the first volume of the flock-book was published.{{r|cabi|p=781|dad|tiho}} There were by this time some {{val|200000}} head. Numbers increased further in the twentieth century, reaching a peak of approximately {{val|650000}} head in the 1960s.{{r|cabi|p=781}} These were widely distributed in south-west central France, in an area bounded roughly by the rivers Garonne to the south-west and Loire to the north and east, and concentrated particularly in the départements of Haute-Vienne and Vienne in the centre of that area.{{r|cabi|p=781}} From the 1960s numbers began to fall – to about {{val|122,000}} in 1983, to approximately {{val|21,000}} in 2001, and further to {{val|8100}} in 2014.{{r|cabi|p=781|dad|tiho}}
In 2022 the conservation status of the Charmoise was listed by DAD-IS as 'not at risk'.{{r|dad}}
Characteristics
The Charmoise is white-faced and white-woolled; it is polled in both sexes. Rams stand some {{convert|65|cm|in|abbr=on}} at the withers, and ewes about {{val|5|u=cm}} less.{{r|dad|tiho}} Average body weights have increased by some {{val|10|–|15|u=kg}} since the mid-twentieth century; in 2016 the weight ranges were given as {{cvt|80|–|95|kg|abbr=on|round=5}} for rams and {{cvt|55|–|65|kg|abbr=on|round=5}} for ewes.{{r|cabi|p=781}}
See also
References
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{{Sheep breeds of France}}