{{Short description|Breed of sheep}} {{use dmy dates|date=May 2014}} {{use list-defined references|date=May 2014}} {{Use British English|date=May 2014}} {{about|the breed of sheep}} {{Infobox sheep breed | name = Biellese | image = | image_alt = | image_size = 280px | image_caption = | status ={{nobreak|FAO (2007): not at risk<ref name=barb/>}} | altname = {{unbulleted list|Razza d'Ivrea|Piemontese Alpina}} | country = Italy | distribution = {{unbulleted list|Piedmont|northern Italy}} | standard = [http://www.assonapa.it/norme_ecc/ovini_llgg/biellese.htm MIPAAF] | type = | use = formerly dual-purpose, meat/milk; now principally for meat | maleweight = 100 kg<ref name=aspa3/> | femaleweight = 82 kg<ref name=aspa3/> | maleheight = 86 cm<ref name=aspa3/> | femaleheight = 81 cm<ref name=aspa3/> | skincolor = pinkish | woolcolor = white | facecolor = white | horns = hornless in both sexes | note = }}
The '''Biellese''' is a breed of large domestic sheep indigenous to the province of Biella, in Piedmont in north-western Italy,<ref name=bigi/><ref name=dad/> from which it takes its name. It may also be known as the '''Razza d'Ivrea''', after the town of Ivrea, or as the '''Piemontese Alpina'''.<ref name=bigi/> The Biellese is one of the seventeen autochthonous Italian sheep breeds for which a genealogical herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.<ref name=aspa/>
==History==
The origins of the Biellese breed are unknown. In the early part of the twentieth century it was considered by some to be a sub-type of the Bergamasca breed; others did not share this view.<ref name=bigi/> The much-reported derivation of it, with the Bergamasca and other Alpine breeds, from Sudanese sheep is a hypothesis published in 1886 in the ''Traité de zootechnie'' of André Sanson, and is based on craniometry; it has no foundation in science. The breed was numerous in the area of Biella; in 1942 numbers were estimated at 40,000.<ref name=dassat/> As with many other Italian breeds, numbers dropped sharply after the Second World War. However, interest in the breed revived in the 1960s; the breed was officially recognised in 1985 by the then Ministero dell'Agricoltura e delle Foreste,<ref name=bigi/> and a herdbook was established in 1986.<ref name=dad/> By 1994 there were more than 50,000 head, of which 1900 were registered in the herdbook. At the end of 2013 the total number registered was 1016;<ref name=aspa2/> there has been no recent census of unregistered stock.<ref name=bigi/>
==Use and management==
The Biellese was formerly considered a dual-purpose breed, yielding meat and wool; it is now kept now principally for meat production. Lambs are usually slaughtered at a weight of 12–15 kg, or rarely at 18–20 kg. Some wether mutton from castrated animals slaughtered at 12–18 months is sold in the markets of Milan and Ravenna; there is demand from some immigrant communities for large entire (uncastrated) lambs.<ref name=bigi/> The wool is of carpet quality; rams yield about 3.5 kg, ewes about 3 kg, per year.<ref name=bigi/>
The Biellese is commonly used for hybridisation with other breeds such as the Frabosana, the Garessina, the Sambucana and the Savoiarda to improve meat yield and growth rate.<ref name=bigi/>
As in the past, management of the Biellese is most often transhumant: the flocks are kept on alpine pasture from June to October, and over-winter in the valleys, where they are fed hay. About 75% of the population is managed in this way. Management of a further 20%, mostly in the area of origin, is nomadic; these are often kept in relatively large flocks of 800–1000 head. Only a small percentage are kept in the same place year-round.<ref name=bigi/>
==References== <references>
<ref name=aspa>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054642/http://www.assonapa.it/Pubblicazioni/Razze-ovine-caprine-Italia/Razze_Ovine_Caprine_Italia.pdf ''Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia''] (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine, page 20. Archived 21 September 2013.</ref>
<ref name=aspa2>[http://www.assonapa.it/Consistenze/Cons_razza.asp?Anno=2013&Cod_razza=71 Consistenze Provinciali della Razza 71 Biellese Anno 2013] (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed May 2014.</ref>
<ref name=aspa3>[http://www.assonapa.it/norme_ecc/ovini_llgg/biellese.htm Caratteri tipici e indirizzi di miglioramento della razza Biellese] (in Italian). Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali. Accessed May 2014.</ref>
<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>
<ref name=bigi>Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). ''Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia'' (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. {{ISBN|9788850652594}}. p. 190–191.</ref>
<ref name=dad>[http://dad.fao.org/cgi-bin/EfabisWeb.cgi?sid=0b1613ebf16355cf65f6a05b9a65fe25,reportsreport8a_50012314 Breed data sheet: Biellese/Italy]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed May 2014.</ref>
<ref name=dassat>Pietro Dassat (June 1942). [https://books.google.com/books?id=8aAjAQAAIAAJ Contributo allo studio della pecora biellese] (in Italian). ''L'Italia agricola'' (6): 323-328.</ref>
</references>
{{Sheep breeds of Italy}}
Category:Sheep breeds originating in Italy