The Chios is a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

domestic sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...

with specific unknown origins. It is classified as a semi-fat tailed breed. The Chios are bred mainly for their

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

production. Although there is speculation that this breed may have been crossed with Kivircik and Dagliç, it is commonly accepted that it originated on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

Characteristics

This breed typically has black spots on the ears, nose, belly, legs and around the eyes. Brown spots have been observed also. Mature ewes weigh and mature rams weigh . Both sexes are horned; however, ewes can also be polled (hornless). Horns of the rams have a large spiral. If ewes have horns, they are small like a knob. Ewes can have two crops of lambs per year with an average of 1.5 to 2.3 lambs per litter. Average weight at birth is . At 45 days, lambs weigh on average Ewes can produce of milk per lactation. The average lactation period is 210 days. The milk is used to produce many types of cheeses such as Feta, Batzos, Manouri and many others. The highest recorded milk production was 777 litres in a 220 days lactation period. Wool diameter is 27 to 35 micrometres with a spinning count 44's to 56's. The staple length is . A raw fleece weighs about . There is considerable variation between individuals in regards to fleece quality. However, the quality of fleece of an individual is typically consistent. From 1983 to 2007, the world population of the Chios has increased from 16,000 to 51,860.

Chios sheep farms

In a recent survey, the farm conditions and production methods in intensively reared flocks of Chios sheep in Greece have been described showing an important structural and managerial development compared to the more traditional systems which are still dominant in Greece. According to the aforementioned survey, the average flock comprised 314 sheep (16 rams, 210 ewes and 88 lamb ewes) and the average milk yield per ewe was 276.6±55.6 kg/lactation (adjusted for 210 days of lactation). Moreover, mean prolificacy was 2.1±0.3 and the mean BW of lambs at birth was 3.5, 3.9 and 4.6, for triplets, twins and single lambs, respectively. Rearing of lambs for 6–8 weeks was the common practice followed by a 7-month ewe's milking period. Based on this fact, a study in order to produce a typology of intensive Chios dairy sheep farms in Greece was conducted.Gelasakis A.I. et al. 2012. Description and typology of intensive Chios dairy sheep farms in Greece. Journal of Dairy Science, 95:3070-3079 From this study, four clusters were recognized: Cluster 1: Newly established, intensive, well-equipped specialized farms Cluster 2: Well-established farms with balanced sheep and feed/crop production Cluster 3: Small flock farms focusing more on arable crops than on sheep farming with a tendency to evolve toward cluster 2 Cluster 4: Farms representing a rather conservative form of Chios sheep breeding with low/intermediate inputs and choosing not to focus on feed/crop production

References

{{reflist, 30em Sheep breeds Sheep breeds originating in Greece