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Alpenraum.F RINK 20.09.2005 16:37 Uhr Seite 120
FRANCE
Merinos d`Arles (Merino de la Crau, Métis)
Breeding history
Even before Merino sheep were brought from Spain to France in the
18th century, there already was a Merino population in the South
of France which was crossbred with Spain Merino rams. Since the
beginning of the 1920ies until the 1940ies, it was tried to improve
wool performance and built of the animals through crossbreeding
with Merinos du Chatillonnais. The breed is today mainly found in
Provence Alpes, Côte d`Azur, Drôme, Isère, but also in the Pyrénées-
Atlantique and Corsica. They were exported to Spain, Eastern
Europe and North Africa, some even to Asia. Approx. 75 % of the
ewes are purebred. In 1946, herdbook foundation for the breed.
Related Breeds
Merinos du Chatillonnais
Description of the Breed
Skin and wool of Merino d`Arles are unicoloured white. The breed’s
wool is of excellent quality. Rams weight 80 kg on average and carry
two spiral horns. Females are polled.
Special Performances
Merino -d`Arles are bred and selected for high milk yield and good
milk quality. These features make lambs grow fast between the
10th and 30th day of age. Weaned lambs are often taken to summer
pastures, too, and sold on the return. Lambings take place in
the months from April to June, the animals are non-seasonal. The
breed is very well adapted to mountain conditions and to the dry
regions of Southern France. They are well suited to graze Alpine
pastures during summer at high altitudes. During winter time, the
animals are always kept on pastures at lower locations.
Support
No information available.
Present Importance
Despite the wool being of high quality, it generates only a small
proportion of the income. Breeding aims for Merinos d`Arles are
the milk yield of the ewes and weight gain of lambs. Only selected
rams are used for breeding. The population of Merinos d`Arles is
stable at present. They are not considered to be endangered. The
breed is also used for landscape management. Both meat and wool
are used (fine wool). Processing of the wool is done in a mutually
owned wool processing enterprise. The breed is sometimes crossbred
with Merinos Precoce, Est a laine Merinos, Ile de France.
Glossary for the table
Gesamtpopulation / Overall population
Anzahl Böcke / Number of rams
Bestandssituation /
Anzahl weibliche Zuchttiere /
Population numbers
Number of breeding females
Es existiert keine Kryoreserve / Herdbuch-Muttertiere /
There is no cryoreserve
Females in herdbook
Es existiert eine Kryoreserve /
Tägliche Zunahme / Daily gain
There is a cryoreserve
Schlachtgewicht / Trading life weight
Contact
• UPRA Mérinos d´Arles
17, Allee des Genets,
F-04200 Sisteron
Leistungsangaben / Performance data
Körpergewicht / Body weight
Vliesgewicht / Fleece weight
Ablammergebnis / Lambing percentage
Widerristhöhe / Withers height
Altböcke / Breeding males
Muttertiere / Ewes
Jahr / Year
120 MERINO D`ARLES