Conformation

Limbs

• Strong, well placed, and well woolled

• Solid strong hooves

• Straight legs – not bow legged, not knock-kneed/cow-hocked

• Slight hock angulation

• Short strong pasterns

• Solid bone structure

• Joints straight and sound

Gait

• Spacious, surefooted, straight and wide-legged

• Doesn’t sway or waver

• Even and stable movement

• Mobile with ease

Wool/Fleece

• Fleece in lambs is soft to the touch and becomes coarser as the sheep matures

• The Swiss measurement for fineness of 5-4 equates to approximately 28-38 micron depending on age and gender with finest wool in lambs and coarsest wool in adult males

• Staple length is 10cm based on 6 months growth and is the minimum length required for showing

• Fleece is uniformly white and evenly distributed over the whole body including head and legs

• In females, only some black hairs are tolerated on the neck area; in males up to 18 months of age this is a reason for exclusion/castration

Fleece weight when shorn

• Lambs 1-1.5kg

• Ewes and rams 2.5-3kg- based on twice yearly shearing with 6 months growth

Breed Standard

General Appearance

• Black nose to centre of the head

• Black encompassing the eye area connecting with the black of the nose, no gap is permitted

• Black ears – black should meet the white of the head- a gap of white between ears and face is required

• Black hooves and ankle area, i.e. black socks

• Black spots on knees and hocks – they can be non-symmetrical and can be very small

Females:

• Females should have a black tail spot. This spot should be interrupted with a finger width of white on the tail

• Females missing a marking feature (ie a knee spot) may have a point deduction depending on overall conformation and wool

Males:

• Males must not have a tail spot

• Scrotum may be black but the black must not extend upward into the main fleece, i.e. black must be contained to the belly area

• A black patch around the umbilical cord location is acceptable for males and females

• Other colour patterns are mismarked

Head and Neck

• Short, compact, well-proportioned head, with medium length ears

• Wide mouth, broad forehead, Roman (convex) nose

• Pronounced, regal head shape in in rams; mature rams often develop protuberances behind horn base

• Short, straight, well-muscled neck

Horns – males and females

• Spiral outward from head, horizontally. Well set off from cheeks (you should always be able to fit a flat hand comfortably between the horn and the cheek

• Black stripes in the horns are acceptable

Chest, Shoulder and Withers

• Broad, deep chest

• Shoulders line naturally with neck and chest

• Well-spaced, broad withers

• Rib curvature is well proportioned and rounded

Back and Loin

• Long, straight top line

• Wide back and well-muscled loin

Pelvis, abdomen and hindquarters

• Medium sized belly with small belly hollows (paralumbar fossa)

• Wide and medium length pelvis

• Well-muscled hindquarters

Height at wither (over two years)

• Female 72-78 cm

• Male 75-83 cm

Weight (over 2 years)

• Female 70-90 kg

• Male 80-120 kg

The Spitti

Occasionally purebred Valais Blacknose (i.e. from purebred parentage on the dam and sire lines) may produce offspring that are marked with additional black or even in reverse pattern - this is referred to as ‘Spitti’. Spitti colouring is a genetic trait however the genes have not been identified. In some places around the world, spittis are considered good luck but it is important to remember, they are officially mismarked.

Spitti Valais Blacknose sheep have the following accepted principles:

• A Spitti can only occur where both the sire and dam are purebred Valais Blacknose. Spitti animals do not exist within the Breed Up Program, as it is not possible to determine whether an atypical marking pattern is the result of the true Spitti gene or the influence of the foundation ewe's genetics.

• Some spittis have predominantly black wool instead of white, while others may have a splotching pattern.

• Sheep with common mismarks, e.g. extra black leg spots or a single colour spot, are not considered to be spitti.

• Spitti rams must be castrated and are not eligible for registration for breeding purposes as per the original Upper Valais Blacknose Sheep Breeding Association.

• Spitti ewes are eligible for breeding and registration.