Index

Description

Plezzana is a medium-sized, finely boned sheep breed with straight profile of the head and slightly Roman nose. The ears are small, narrow and stick out horizontally. Rams and ewes are mostly polled. The wool is unicoloured white or entirely black, different colour markings occur, too.

General and History

Plezzana sheep date back to the original breed Torfschaf, whose descendant is the Zaupel. They are not Bergamasca-typed, but conform with the original sheep of the eastern Alpes.

Distribution in the past and today

At present the breed comes from Valle dell’Isonzo in the border region to Slovenia, with the town of Plezzo, today named Bovec and part of Slovenia.

Utilization

The small-framed animals are very robust and well-suited to graze humid lands and high-altitude Alpine pastures. The milk is very well suited for cheese production.

Keeping

The breed is robust, frugal and very well adapted to the harsh climatic conditions at high altitudes. They move absolutely safe in difficult terrain and become very old.

Performance

Plezzana are non-seasonal, mature early and have very good maternal characteristic. The animals in Slovenia are milked.
Body weight: 55-70kg (m), 45-55kg (w)
Withers height: 73-78cm (m), 65-70cm (w)
Fleece weight: 3.5kg (m), 3.0kg (w)
Lambing percentage: 170%

Literature

Schafrassen der Alpen, Antje Feldmann, Ursula Bietzker, Dr. Christian Mendel, Herausgeber: Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen e.V. - GEH, Deutschland, Sept. 2005