Bluefaced Leicester sheep
The Bluefaced Leicester sheep is an originally English breed of sheep and originates from a breeding scheme by Robert Bakewell from the 18th century, which served the further development of the Longwool sheep . Originally known as Dishley Leicester , the breed evolved over 200 years and later became known as Hexham Leicester due to its widespread distribution in the north of England .
Today the breed is known as the Bluefaced Leicester and is the most common crossbreeding sheep in the UK. Bluefaced Leicester rams are regularly crossed into original English breeds (including Swaledale , Blackface , Welsh Mountain and Cheviot ) due to the high quality wool and excellent meat in order to produce so-called "Mule" dams. The term “Mule” in English stands for all animals that have emerged from crosses with Bluefaced Leicester rams. Such “mules” now make up almost 50% of the female crossbred animals in Great Britain.
The current record buck was auctioned in 2015 at a price of 34,000 GPB (around € 48,200).
In 1963 the "Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders Association" was founded in England to promote breeding and to ensure compliance with breed standards. Today the BFL Association has about 1200 members with an average herd size of 20 dams.
EU recognition / trade / herd bookkeeping
Despite or because of its long tradition, the breeding association “Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders' Association” has not been recognized by the EU and does not strive for this recognition in the future either, although it meets the criteria. Therefore, the EU does not list the "Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders' Association" as a recognized animal breeding organization and the "Bluefaced Leicester" breed not as a recognized breed, which under EU zootechnical law means that today neither breeding animals, embryos or semen outside the UK can be traded in the EU because they lack a recognized certificate of parentage. The EU regulations (96/510 / EG) for the free trade in breeding animals, semen, egg cells and embryos prevent the free trade in breeding animals, semen, egg cells and embryos of the Bluefaced Leicester breed. However, exports - especially to Canada, the USA and the rest of the world - are regular and brisk.
The keeping of a herd book for animals of the breed Bluefaced Leicester at a recognized breeding association in another EU country as a new breed or discovery is refused on the grounds that it is - as everyone knows - an old English breed.
Breeding in Germany
It was not until 2014 that six animals were exported from England to Germany. There are now 10 registered animals in Saxony. Another female animal imported from Holland lives in Schleswig-Holstein, but is not reproductive. In 2015 there were 4 lambs in Germany - all of them female. On March 21, 2016, two female lambs were born from the AGRA winner "Hilli". One died a few hours after lambing. From another 4 lambs, 4 bucks and 5 female lambs fell. Thus, in October 2016, 21 sheep of this breed are known in Germany. The German offspring all go back to the buck "Craig yr Orsedd", who is a brother of a Carlisle champion and belongs to the traditional line. There is also the crossing line, in which asymmetrical spots on the face and legs are tolerated. Only one female of this line exists in Germany. In northern Germany, the Martens sheep farm is the first to use Bluefaced Leicester on Scottish Blackfaced dams and thus pulls Scotch Mules. Jochen Martens has acquired the bucks "David the Knife Bowie" and "Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper". The Pilz sheep farm in Neuberg an der Mürz in Austria has the same plans and in 2016 imported the rams "Dwayne the Rock Johnson" and "Daryl Crossbow Dixon" from Germany. In order to promote the breeding and keeping of the breed, the association "Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders' Association in Germany eV" was founded on August 10, 2016. In cooperation with the state sheep breeding associations, the association will keep pedigree books and issue certificates and promote the recognition of the breed according to the Animal Breeding Act. It will be based on the breeding standards of the association from Great Britain and record the performance of the individual animals. He archives gene profiles of all male offspring and all imported bucks in order to be able to prove theft and breeding use. This means that, regardless of the unsafe marks attached to the animal, all ancestry in Germany and Austria can be detected using DNA.
On October 19, 2016, the association imported two male lambs from breeder Elfyn Owen from North Wales to breeder Henry Seifert in Saxony and used a Cessna T303 Crusader on a private flight. This made it possible to shorten the transport time from over 28 hours for truck transport to less than 8 hours and also to significantly reduce the transport load. The actual flight time was only 3 hours and 18 minutes. It was the first privately operated air transport of sheep within the European Union. It took about two years to prepare and plan. The main factor was the uncertainty of the authorities involved in applying Regulation (EC) 1/2005 on the protection of farm animals during transport.
Breeding description
Bluefaced Leicester sheep have a wide, round mouth, have a tendency to have a so-called "Roman nose", watchful, attentive eyes and long ears. Even if the desired skin color of the head should be a dark blue that is translucent through the hair (origin of today's breed name), a uniform brownish color is also acceptable.
The long neck ends in a broad shoulder area, a well developed flank and a strong straight back. The hindquarters are broad and well muscled, the legs straight and with strong bones. The wool is long, tightly curled, fine, soft, has a fine sheen and is open to the body (56s-60s, 24-28 µm thick, 7-15 cm long). Especially the wool of the first shear, the so-called "Shearling Wool", is very popular with felters, spinners and knitting enthusiasts.
Web links
- www.blueleicester.co.uk - English breed association
- www.blueleicester.de - Bluefaced Leicester in Germany
- www.bflsheep.com - Bluefaced Leicester in North America