Breed description
Breed description |
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Swiss
Black-Brown Mountain Sheep The
Swiss Black-Brown Mountain sheep is polled, medium-sized, deep and broad. The
coat colour is either black, chestnut coloured or light brown. Head and legs are
clear of wool, covered with short black or brown hair. The head is well
carried, the face is fine, long with straight profile and bright eyes. The ears
are of medium length, horizontally placed and pointing slightly forward. Special featuresThe
Swiss Black-Brown Mountain sheep is docile, intelligent and easy to handle. It is very adaptable, thriving under a wide range of conditions and
climates. This breed is the most fertile type of mountain sheep. As it is a
non-seasonal breeder, the ewes quite often lamb twice a year and have 1,8 lambs in average per birth, thus making
them an ideal mother race for crossings with meat producing rams. The ewes are
excellent milkers and dedicated mothers. Swiss Black-Brown Mountain rams are
hardworking and fertile.
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| For
1999 the statistics show 35 % singles, 53 % twins, 11 % triplets, 1 %
quadruples and quintuples.
Swiss Black-Brown Mountain lambs, both pure-bred or cross-bred kill out significantly better than for instance the Tyrolean Mountain sheep. The bone is light, with an excellent meat to bone ratio. The meat is rich in colour and of particularly good flavour and texture. |
| Prolificacy*: | ||
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Number of live lambs per birth: |
1,8 | |
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Average
Birthweight: Twins, Triplets: |
3,9 kg |
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| Age at first birth: | 549 days | |
| Average time between lambings: | 297 days | |
| Growth of Lambs inhouse: | ||
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Daily
liveweight gain on station (MPA
Ritzlhof, OÖ) |
470 g | |
| Growth of lambs on grass*: | ||
| Daily liveweight gain: | 179 g | |
| Average days to slaughter: | 201 | |
| Average killing out: | 45,6% | |
| Lean meat: | 63,1% | |
| * According to the information of the Schweizerische Schafzuchtverband, CH-3360 Herzogenbuchsee published in 1999 | ||
| Weights and Heights |
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| Live weight: | Rams 2-3 years | 80 - 100kg | |
| Rams over 3 years | 90 - 120 kg | ||
| Ewes over 2 years | 65 - 90 kg |
| Withers height: | Rams 2-3 years | 75 - 80 cm | |
| Rams over 3 years | 75 - 82 cm | ||
| Ewes over 2 years | 66 - 74 cm |
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Wool: The
fleece of the Swiss Black-Brown Mountain sheep is of single-colour (either
black, chestnut or light brown), thick and
close-cropped. Due to the Merino ancestry the wool is fine and strong and
is remarkable for its strength and elasticity. No kemp or white fibres are
allowed.
History:The Swiss Black-Brown Mountain Sheep originates from the ancient Swiss breeds Jura, Simmentaler, Saanen, Frutiger, Roux de Bagnes and Freiburger. Frutig sheep are already known from records of the 14th Century. Their coarse, mainly white wool was quite important for the home industry producing the famous Frutig cloth. In the beginning of the 19th Century Flemish Landrace sheep were crossed in and Spanish Black Merinos around 50 years later. Another ancestor, the Roux de Bagnes, was a small-framed, compact, easily satisfied and hardy hill breed. In 1941 the breed description Black-Brown Mountain sheep was created and the various breeds were made uniform. The mutual flock book for black and brown varieties dates from 1979. Today this breed is raised mainly in Switzerland ( Fribourg, Bern, Jura, Lucerne and Zurich). In Austria the first flock
of Swiss Black-Brown Mountain sheep was introduced under the name Jura sheep by the
shepherds of Longo Maï, wandering 1977 all the way from the Bernish Jura to
Carinthia. |
