Lacaune Sheep

The Lacaune is a French breed of dairy sheep named for the town of Lacaune in the Tarn and Aveyron departements of southern France, and is the most widely used dairy sheep breed in the country, supplying most of the milk used for Roquefort cheese in the so-called Roquefort Sector. Polled and white, weighing 70 to 100 kilograms, it is hardier and less docile than other dairy breeds, with small hooves suited to rocky hillsides, minimal wool, and a deep udder that responds well to mechanical milking. Selective breeding since the late 1960s has roughly quadrupled its milk yield, from about 70 liters to about 280 liters a year per ewe, and there are around 800,000 Lacaune ewes in France today.