Manchega Breed

The Manchega sheep owes its name to the region of La Mancha, as it is the area of origin and where this breed is mainly exploited. It is one of the most important sheep breeds, both in terms of volume and production characteristics.

The Official Catalogue of Livestock Breeds includes the Manchega sheep breed in the Group of Autochthonous Breeds for Promotion.

Manchega Breed

The Manchega sheep owes its name to the region of La Mancha, as it is the area of origin and where this breed is mainly exploited. It is one of the most important sheep breeds, both in terms of volume and production characteristics.

The Official Catalogue of Livestock Breeds includes the Manchega sheep breed in the Group of Autochthonous Breeds for Promotion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
It is a breed of pronounced sexual dimorphism, convex profile, elongated proportions and rather large size.
Breeding males weighing at least 65 kg and females weighing more than 45 kg. The trunk is long with a straight dorsolumbar line. Both sexes are acorns.
There may be mammels on the neck.
The hooves are white. The mammary gland is well implanted (and selected for adaptation to mechanical milking), with proportionate and well positioned teats.

The fleece is uniformly white, slight pigmentation being tolerated in females. The fleece is of fine wool, with a variable amount of medullated fibres.

PRODUCTION CHARACTERISTICS AND EXPLOITATION SYSTEMS
The Manchega has traditionally been classified as a dual aptitude breed (milk-meat), although in recent years there has been a trend to specialisation towards single production. It also stands out for its great longevity, high precocity and prolificacy, as well as its ease of calving and great maternal instinct. It adapts perfectly to dry and hot climates, with great gregarious instinct and great hardiness, taking advantage of the sparse, pastures, agricultural by-products and natural resources of the countryside.

Milk production: The amount of milk produced per ewe per year has increased considerably over the last ten years (genetic improvement, management, feeding, etc.), reaching levels of up to 250 litres per ewe per year. The physical and chemical quality of the milk is very rich in its composition (fat and protein), obtaining a very high cheese yield (4-4.5 litres -> 1 kg of fresh cheese), which makes it the necessary and fundamental product for the transformation into Manchego cheese (protected by the Designation of Origin since 1985).

Meat production: Large producer of meat, both in terms of the number of lambs and their growth, development, carcass yield and carcass quality. The main type of lamb marketed is the paschal type (22-28 kg live weight), although the production of suckling lamb, with a live weight of 8-14 kg live weight, is now increasing. Both are covered by the Protected Geographical Indication for Manchego lamb (1996). The carcasses are lean to medium-fat, with meat of great tenderness and juiciness, with the beginnings of infiltration, intramuscular fat, providing a very pleasant characteristic bouquet.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
This breed is distributed throughout most of the Spanish provinces (Madrid, Community of Valencia, Castilla y Leon, etc.), but is most concentrated in Castilla-La Mancha.

INFORMATION

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Presupuesto total: 543.404,60 euros. Cofinanciado UE al 80% por el Fondo Europeo Agrícola de Desarrollo Rural- FEADER y al 20% por el MAPA. La Dirección General de Desarrollo Rural, Innovación y Formación Agroalimetnaria (DGDRIFA) es la autoridad de gestión encargada de la aplicación de la ayuda FEADER y nacional correspondiente.

https://ec.europa.eu/info/eu-regional-and-urban-development/topics/rural-development_es

Creación de una base y estructura de comercialización e internacionalización de material genético de razas puras españolas mediante análisis de la situación actual y elaboración de plan estratégico para la exportación. El objetivo es desarrollar un análisis estratégico de la internacionalización y desarrollo de estructura y protocolos de comercialización del material genético según demanda y requisitos de países objetivos para las razas participantes del proyecto y para el conjunto de la cabaña ganadera España. Organismo responsable de contenido: miembros del GO EXPORTGEN.

Tell us about your characteristics and needs so that we can offer you the solution that best suits your context. Contact us if you have any clarifications or suggestions for products or services that you need.

Presupuesto total: 543.404,60 euros. Cofinanciado UE al 80% por el Fondo Europeo Agrícola de Desarrollo Rural- FEADER y al 20% por el MAPA. La Dirección General de Desarrollo Rural, Innovación y Formación Agroalimetnaria (DGDRIFA) es la autoridad de gestión encargada de la aplicación de la ayuda FEADER y nacional correspondiente.

https://ec.europa.eu/info/eu-regional-and-urban-development/topics/rural-development_es

Creación de una base y estructura de comercialización e internacionalización de material genético de razas puras españolas mediante análisis de la situación actual y elaboración de plan estratégico para la exportación. El objetivo es desarrollar un análisis estratégico de la internacionalización y desarrollo de estructura y protocolos de comercialización del material genético según demanda y requisitos de países objetivos para las razas participantes del proyecto y para el conjunto de la cabaña ganadera España. Organismo responsable de contenido: miembros del GO EXPORTGEN.