Marrana

Marrana

The marrana or marrane is a native Italian sheep (Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758) with a main aptitude for meat production.

Systematics –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Animalia,
Phylum Chordata,
Mammalia class,
Order Artiodactyla,
Suborder Ruminantia,
Bovidae family,
Subfamily Caprinae,
Genus Ovis,
O. aries species,
Marrano race.

Geographic and Area Distribution –
Information about this breed and its origins are not well documented, however the presence in the past of these breeds is certain which were grazed during the summer on the appendages of the Ligurian Apennines, in Val d’Aveto and Rezzoaglio (breeding areas and of probable origin); it is probable that the reproducers of these breeds were crossed with local flocks, creating and stabilizing the Marrana breed over time.
Marrana is also present outside the area of origin, such as in the province of Genoa.

Origins and History –
The Marrana sheep breed, observing its phenotype, has probable origins from some Italian meat breeds such as Bergamasca, Biellese and Apennine, which are still present in quite widespread numbers in the Po Valley, Alps and Apennines.
Given the truly negligible consistency of the heads of this breed, supplanted in recent times by more productive breeds but less suitable for certain breeding habitats, the primary objective is to save the breed from the effective danger of extinction.
At present, in some realities, objectives of recovery of the breed, of improvement and to save the breed from the danger of extinction are underway.

Morphology –
The Marrana is a large-sized sheep with a height at the withers of approximately 87 cm for males and approximately 85 cm for females. The minimum weight is 80 kg for males and 70 kg for females.
The head is large, powerful with a slightly convex profile, more accentuated in males; the eyes are large and dark in color; the breed has no horns, with large, pendant ears longer than the muzzle and with the end turned outward.
The neck is quite short, strong in females, very strong in males; well implanted on the front in both sexes.
The trunk is robust and basically long; with rounded and full withers, well developed and deep chest; the loins are strong and quite wide, with a rather long and wide croup and slightly sloping backwards; the rear compared to the front is slightly higher; the tail in the male is left intact and tends to be short, in the females it is docked.
The limbs are robust with the feet having tight and very robust white claws; the front ones are larger than the hind ones.
The fleece is open white, of “fine mattress” quality, extending to the trunk, neck, tail, chest and head above the braincase and halfway down the cheeks. In the juveniles the flocks are open rather curled. They have no fleece: the abdomen, the inside of the thigh and the limbs.
The skin is white, quite thin and elastic, with possible pigmentation; the external mucous membranes are depigmented while more or less extensive slate-coloured pigmentation may be present in the internal ones.

Productive attitude –
The Marrana is a sheep with an aptitude for meat production.
The milk is totally used by the heirs up to 2-3 months and spontaneously dried.
The wool is dirty with quantities of about 3.5 kg in females and 5 kg in males, traditionally used for leather yarns.
This breed provides two births per year with a prolificacy of 150%. Bigeminal birth is frequent.
The average age at first birth is 13 – 14 months and the weight of the reins at birth is 4 kg.
The breeding of this breed is typically sedentary, agro-pastoral.
For registration in the register the presence of horns is tolerated; the presence of light pigmentation and light bone structure is also tolerated.

Guido Bissanti

Sources-
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon , 2010. Atlas of native breeds. Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs reared in Italy, Edagricole-New Business Media, Bologna.