Avranchin are a grassland breed of sheep. They are hardy and
well-adapted to a ocean climate, usually living outdoors in small flocks. They
are one of the most prolific French breeds. They have a large or medium-sized
frame. They produce lambs of good butchering quality, with very fine textured
meat.
The selection of the Avranchin sheep breed tends towards the
maintenance of high prolificacy (the optimum sought is the ewe which regularly
produces twins at each lambing), and the improvement of the milk value of the
dams. Rams for breeding are chosen according to their conformation and the
prolificacy and milk value indexes of their dam.