Country of origin Italy Face color black | Wool color lead-grey to black Scientific name Ovis aries Rank Breed | |
 | ||
Use Principally milk, also meat Weight Male: 90 kgFemale: 65 kg Height Male: 85 cmFemale: 77 cm Similar Comisana, Appenninica, Biellese, Laticauda sheep, Bergamasca sheep | ||
The Massese is a breed of domestic sheep from the Alpi Apuane mountains of the province of Massa Carrara, in Tuscany, central Italy. It takes its name from the town of Massa. It is raised throughout most of Tuscany, and also in Emilia–Romagna, Liguria and Umbria. It has common origins with the other indigenous sheep breeds of the Apennines.
The Massese is one of the seventeen autochthonous Italian sheep breeds for which a genealogical herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders. The herdbook was established in 1971. Total numbers for the breed were recorded as 182,690 in 1986, of which 66% were in Tuscany and 27% in Emilia–Romagna. In 2006 the population was estimated at 55,000, of which 16,477 were registered in the herdbook; in 2013 the number recorded in the herdbook was 8423.
The Massese remains in oestrus throughout the year, and normally lambs three times every two years; this, coupled with a twinning rate of 135%, allows production of two lambs per year. They are slaughtered at a weight of 10–15 kg. The milk yield is about 120 ± 32 litres per lactation for primiparous, and 138 ± 45 l for pluriparous, ewes; it may reach 300–350 l per lactation. The milk has on average 6.2% fat and 5.3% protein.