Charmoise

The Charmoise is a French breed of domestic sheep. It was created in the early nineteenth century by Édouard Malingié, by cross-breeding of Romney stock imported from the United Kingdom with local breeds including the Berrichon du Cher, Merino, Solognote and Tourangelle. It is reared for both meat and wool. Breed numbers fell from a peak of approximately $650,000$ in the 1960s to about $122,000$ in 1983, to approximately $21,000$ in 2001, and further to $8,100$ in 2014.

History
The Charmoise was created in the early nineteenth century by Édouard Malingié at his estate La Charmoise, in the département of Loir-et-Cher between Blois and Tours in central France. Romney rams imported from Kent in the United Kingdom were cross-bred with ewes of local breeds including the Berrichon du Cher, Merino, Solognote and Tourangelle, in the hope of combining the meat qualities of the former with the rusticity of the latter.

The breed was rapidly established, by 1820 at the latest. Its first appearance at an agricultural show was in 1852. In 1896 a breed society was established; in 1926 this was re-formed, and in 1927 the first volume of the flock-book was published. There were by this time some $200,000$ head. Numbers increased further in the twentieth century, reaching a peak of approximately $650,000$ head in the 1960s. These were widely distributed in south-west central France, in an area bounded roughly by the rivers Garonne to the south-west and Loire to the north and east, and concentrated particularly in the départements of Haute-Vienne and Vienne in the centre of that area. From the 1960s numbers began to fall – to about $122,000$ in 1983, to approximately $21,000$ in 2001, and further to $8,100$ in 2014.

In 2022 the conservation status of the Charmoise was listed by DAD-IS as 'not at risk'.

Characteristics
The Charmoise is white-faced and white-woolled; it is polled in both sexes. Rams stand some 65 cm at the withers, and ewes about $5 cm$ less. Average body weights have increased by some $10 kg$ since the mid-twentieth century; in 2016 the weight ranges were given as 80 – for rams and 55 – for ewes.