The Comisana, also known as Faccia Rossa and Lentinese, is an Italian
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 ...
of domestic
sheep indigenous to central and northern areas of the Mediterranean island of
Sicily. Its name derives from that of the
comune of
Comiso, in the
province of Ragusa. It is raised principally in the
provinces of
Caltanissetta,
Enna and
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, but is found in many other Italian provinces and has also been exported to other
Mediterranean countries.
History
The origins of the Comisana sheep are obscure; it is a southern Mediterranean breed. It appears to derive from
cross-breeding of the Sicilian
Pinzirita with
Maltese
Maltese may refer to:
* Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta
* Maltese alphabet
* Maltese cuisine
* Maltese culture
* Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people
* Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...
sheep imported to Sicily towards the end of the nineteenth century.
It is one of the seventeen
autochthonous Italian sheep breeds for which a genealogical herdbook is kept by the
Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia
The Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, or roughly "national association of pastoralists", is the Italian national body responsible for the administration of sheep- and goat-breeding. It maintains the herd books for more than a hundred in ...
, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders; the herdbook was established in 1976. Total numbers for the breed were estimated at 350,000 in 1983, of which 64,500 were registered in the herdbook. In 2013 the number recorded in the herdbook was 28,428; in 2019 it was 2105.
Use
The milk yield of the Comisana averages per lactation for
primiparous ewes, and for
pluriparous
In biology and human medicine, gravidity and parity are the number of times a woman is or has been pregnant (gravidity) and carried the pregnancies to a viable gestational age (parity). These terms are usually coupled, sometimes with additional te ...
ones. It may exceed The milk has 6.5% fat and 5.2% protein. Lambs are usually slaughtered at the age of about one month, at a weight of Rams yield about of wool, ewes about the wool is of coarse quality, suitable for mattresses.
References
{{Sheep breeds of Italy
Sheep breeds originating in Italy