AREAS OF PRODUCTION
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The Autonomous Community of Castilla y León includes in its totality the geographical area of local suckling lambs which covers the hydrographic basin of El Duero up to an altitude of 1,000 m., where, for many years, lambs that have perfectly adapted to the climate conditions and exploitation have been bred, deriving the three autochthonous lamb breeds in the Community.
THE OJALADA BREED :
The Ojalada breed, being true to its name, presents dark circles around its eyes and also, black tones in the ears and nose. Of a small size and special pigmentation, it is used to the rigorous climate of high platforms that extend from El Duero to the Central System. The dispersion area is located in the south of the province of Soria, occupying steppe terrain down the mountain and aromatic plants. This lamb descends from the primitive Ovis aries ibericus. It currently occupies the poorest and roughest areas of the interior. |
THE CHURRA BREED :
They graze in moors and stubble, and some in river banks. The ideal pastures for producing a meat as fine as this one are: fine pastures, those that come out among rocky territories, boundary strips and edges. They may give birth to two, three or four young a year. The gestation period is approximately is, approximately, between 150 to 160 days. The young is the suckling lamb. Just as the word indicates, the feeding of the young is its mother’s milk. It has 20 to 25 days of life and it is slaughtered at an approximate live weight of 10 to 11 kilos. In channel, without the head nor insides, it reached 5 to 5.5 kgs. A quarter of the churra suckling lamb is considered by the great masters, the best dish at a national level, for its taste, exquisiteness and firmness. Maybe, nowadays, it is the most natural meat we can find. It is a really exquisite dish. Its elaboration is simple and natural, the ingredients used are water, salt, and the churra suckling lamb, in a firewood oven. The Churra breed, with a total census of more than 1,500,000 specimens a year, is one of the first national ovine breeds for its numerical importance. It represents the 9.5 % Spanish ovine population and constitutes the most important nucleus of milk producing lambs that situates them in one of the first positions regarding the gross capacity of animals per year. The Churra breed has its maximum expansion on the Cuenca del Duero, within the northern sub-plateau, with its main nucleus in the Tierra de Campos and Cerrato region (León, Palencia, Valladolid and Zamora). It extends throughout all the province of Burgos and it reaches the west of Soria and north of Segovia. Of a lively nature, resistant and likes to walk, it is capable of searching for food in adverse conditions, its rustic characteristic and ability to adapt to the environment makes it impossible to find another pure breed that, in identical conditions of exploitation, can be as profitable. The female churra lamb sexually is greatly precocious. As a general norm, in well fed flocks, the first birth may occur between the fourteenth and sixteenth month of age. Prolifically depend a lot on the different factors that surround the animal: feeding, management, covering period, age, etc.; however, according to information registered submitted for control, there figures 150% of the The Churra breed is of a high milk specialisation, being this its main production. The medium capacities of lambs submitted to official milk control are figures at 126 litters in a lactation period of 120 days. The Production potential of the churra lamb is so large that there are flocks who’s effective is registered in the Genealogical Book and their production officially controlled by the Milk Control Nucleus that has exceeded averages of 240 litters in 120 days of lactation and individual productions higher than 300 litters. It is a quality that stands out in the churra breed, its manageability, and as a consequence of this, the easiness and rapidity of milking, adapting perfectly to mechanical milking. |
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THE CASTELLANA BREED :
It is one of the most emblematic ovine races in our country, being the second autochthonous breed in importance within the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León.
The Castellana breed is divided into two zones: the western, the most characteristic, which occupies wide zones of Castilla la Vieja, being predominant regarding other breeds in Zamora, Salamanca and Valladolid. The other zone is the eastern one, where we cans stress Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja and Rincón de Adamuz in Valencia. The geographic area of this breed, in its most characteristic zone, forms a peneplain of vast moors and wide open countryside, with some relief derived from erosion, and a general component of plateau land and a healthy environment with fine pastures and aromatic plants, where stubble fields and mounts are predominant, also, with prairies, pulses and alfalfa. |
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WEIGHT OF THE CHANNEL
STRUCTURE
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FAT
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Origin and history of the breed: