The Chios sheep is a breed of domestic sheep whose exact origin is unknown. But it is thought to originate from the Greek island of Chios and is classified as a bold-tailed breed.
Some sources suggest that “the Chios sheep is the result of a cross between the local sheep of the island of Chios and other breeds of Anatolian sheep (perhaps the Kivirchik and Daglic breeds).
Today, the breed is bred primarily for milk production. From 1983 to 2007, the world population of Chios grew from 16,000 to 51,860 people. Learn more about this breed of sheep below.
Characteristics of the Chios sheep
Chios sheep are medium to large sized animals. Usually they are painted white with black, sometimes brown. They usually have black spots on their ears, stomach, legs, nose, and around their eyes.
As a rule, rams and sheep usually have horns. Rams have large spiral horns, but ewes have a smaller waist and pineal horns. Sometimes you can interview sheep.
The average live weight of adult Chios rams, medium to large in size, ranges from 66 to 91 kg. And the average live weight of sexually mature rams ranges from 48 to 70 kg. Photos and information from Wikipedia.
Advantages
The Chios sheep is a dairy breed of sheep. It is cultivated mainly for the production of milk.
Special Notes
The sheep of Chios are quite strong animals, and they are particularly well adapted to the environment. The sheep are excellent mothers and can have two lambs per year, with an average of 1.5 to 2.3 lambs per litter.
The average weight of lambs at birth is 3.6-3.9 kg. Lambs grow relatively faster and reach 14.7-15.9 kg body weight at 45 days.
Ewes are excellent milk producers and during the lactation period they can produce from 120 to 272 kg of milk. And their average lactation period is 210 days.
Their milk is of quite good quality and is used to produce many types of cheese such as Batsos, Feta, Manouri and many more. However, see the complete breed profile of the Chios sheep in the following table.
video
| Breed name | Chios |
| another name | everything |
| Purpose of the breed | Mainly milk |
| Special Notes | Robust animals, particularly well adapted to local conditions, the ewes are excellent mothers, they can have 2 lambs per year, on average 1.5 to 2.3 lambs per litter, the lambs grow relatively quickly, the ewes are of excellent milk producers and can produce 120 to 272 kg of milk per lactation |
| Breed size | medium to large |
| The weight | The live weight of an adult ram ranges from 66 to 91 kg, and the average live weight of an adult ram ranges from 48 to 70 kg. |
| horns | Yes |
| climatic tolerance | native climate |
| Color | Usually white with black and sometimes brown |
| scarcity | general |
| Country/place of origin | Greek |
