Sheep breed
Romane (INRA 401)
Romane (INRA 401)
Romanov prolificacy meets Berrichon meat: INRA's synthetic ewe.
Description1
A French breed (strictly a strain) created in an INRA programme begun in 1963 by repeatedly crossing the very prolific Romanov with the meat-type Berrichon du Cher. It was declared stable in 1977 and is tied to no home region.
Its head is fine, all white and wool-free, with a short neck; the chest is deep, the body long and rounded and the legs of lamb well developed. Its white fleece, generous for a meat breed, leaves the head and legs bare.
Prolificacy is 200–230%; it is a very good mother and milker and breeds out of season readily; lambs gain 230 g/day between 10 and 30 days. An INRA trial at La Fage showed it can live fully outdoors. Small numbers were exported to England, Spain and Portugal.
History1
1963
INRA starts a research programme crossing Romanov and Berrichon du Cher.
1977
Officially declared a stabilised breed.
1980
The first INRA 401 rams go out to farms.
Breed standard and breed society
The official breed description, breeding goal and herdbook rules are published by the breed's recognised breed society.
- French Wikipedia – INRA 401https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/INRA_401
Photo gallery
All photos are freely licensed (Wikimedia Commons, Flickr); author, source and licence are shown under each image.
Sources
Accessed: 2026-10-18.