The Ciavenasca is an Italian breed of small domestic sheep from the province of Sondrio, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It is raised in the mountainous terrain of the Val San Giacomo, the Val Bregaglia and the Valchiavenna, from which the name of the breed derives. It is raised only for meat; the wool is of very poor quality, and the milk is sufficient only for the lambs. It is one of the forty-two autochthonous local sheep breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.
In 2013 total numbers for the breed were not reported. A population of was reported in 2003.
References Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. Archived 21 September 2013.
Consistenze Provinciali della Razza F6 CIAVENASCA Anno 2013 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed September 2013.
Norme tecniche della popolazione ovina “Ciavenasca”: standard della razza (in Italian). Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali. Accessed May 2014.
Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. . Archived 23 June 2020.
Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. .
Breed data sheet: Ciavenasca/Italy. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.