Manech

Manech is a Basque and western Pyrenean dairy sheep group from southwestern France, best known through the Manech tete rousse and Manech tete noire types, meaning red-faced and black-faced. These sheep are associated with the steep wet hills of the Northern Basque Country and Bearn, where small to medium ewes graze rough pasture and produce milk for farmstead and cooperative cheeses, including Ossau-Iraty. The red-faced type is more numerous and productive in many dairy systems, while the black-faced type is often linked to harder mountain conditions; both have long wool, narrow heads, and active grazing habits.

Flocks are usually run around seasonal lambing and milking, with ewes moving between valley farms and mountain or hill pasture where local systems still use transhumance. Good Manech management means keeping udders healthy, sorting ewes by production, and providing enough energy when pasture quality drops. Their feet need attention in wet country, and lambs require shelter from cold rain even though adult sheep are hardy. Buyers should be clear whether they are looking at red-faced, black-faced, or mixed Manech lines, since milk yield, size, and conservation value can differ.