Bagnolese
Italian breeds of sheep

Origin and diffusion

The Bagnolese Sheep is an autochthonous breed from Campania that got its name from the village of Bagnoli Irpino in the province of Avellino. It probably derives from the crossbreeding of the Barbaresca breed and the local breeds of the Apennines. Over time it spread from Irpinia to the entire region up to the provinces of Caserta and Salerno.
Today there are about a thousand exemplars in the zone of the plateau of Laceno so that, strictly speaking, it cannot really be considered endangered of extinction, yet still this truly interesting breed deserves to be valorized considering the excellent quality of the dairy products derived from its milk: pecorino as well as ricotta cheese (fresh or salted and aged).
In Irpinia (province of Avellino) these sheep are still largely kept in wild or semi wild state, fed on herbal pastureland with integration only in the winter months.

Morphological and economic characteristics

Size: medium-large
Height at the withers:
- Male: 90 cm
- Female 76 cm
Weight:
- Male: 95 kg
- Female: 60 kg

White coat with black spots small or large.
It doesn’t differ much from the Barbaresca breed of ancient North African origin. It is quite large in size – the male exemplars weigh about 100 kilos and the female circa 60 – it has white fleece with dark spots on the back and a dappled head. The female sheep has no horns and a pronounced montonino profile. The ears are long, wide and hanging with small black dots. It’s a rustic breed, well adapted to pastureland in rough conditions. It provides great milk as well as meat products, and young lambs, fed exclusively with milk, are appreciated in local cuisine for their particularly soft and delicate meat. www.slowfoodfoundation.org >>>
Uses: milk and meat.

Bagnolese ewe with suckling lamb (photo G. Catillo www.assonapa.com)

Bagnolese (photo www.assonapa.com)

Bagnolese ram (photo G. Catillo www.assonapa.com)