Istria on the Internet - Flora & Fauna

Ovis
Fauna

Istrian Milk Sheep

Also Known As: Istrian Pramenka (Slovenia), Istarska Ovca (Croatian) Istarska Pramenka (Croatian), Istarska mljecna (Croatian), Istriana or Carsolian (Italian)

Istrian Milk originates in Istria and Karst, in addition they are found in the regions of Gorizia in Italy. The sheep belongs to the group (Zackel) which are used for milk production. They are a dairy breed also kept for meat and wool production. The wool is of carpet wool quality. The Istrian Milk is of the Pramenda type and is nearly extinct. This breed now exists in two countries, Slovenia and Croatia. In Slovenia about 300 breeding ewes are reared, whereas breeding material and conservation programs are run in both countries.

Performance

Istrian Milk sheep produce milk with high fat and protein content. Using traditional husbandry methods they produce between 100 and 150 kg milk in the lactation with a fat content of 9% and a protein content over 6.4%. Some animals will produce milk that contains more than 13% fat and more than 7% protein with over 25% dry matter.

Table 1
Istrian Pramenka sheep
Milk yield and content of some compounds in milk

Year	n	Yield	Fat	Protein	Lactose	Dry Matter	Milking
Year	n	kg	%	%	%	%	days
1993	51	142	9.29	6.42	5.75	21.4	125
1994	28	107	7.51	5.44	4.34	18.00	103
1995	45	150	7.20	5.80	4.10	16.70	229

Sources:

Text and images - Istrian Pramenka by. Drago Kompan, University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, 1230 Domzale, Slovenia. e-mail: Dragomir.Kompan@Bfro.Uni-Lj.SI.
Top image - Eduard Strenja, Labin-Rabac, Labin Tourist Association (1997)

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