Hexham Blueface sell to £3400 top

Trade for Bluefaced Leicesters at Hexham on Tuesday saw a top call of £3400 for the pre-sale champion from Martin Archer, Carry House.

What intrigues me about the Bluefaces at Hexham, is that, from the couple of photos I’ve seen they appear to be traditional Bluefaces rather than the more modern crossing type of sheep which to be honest are starting to look more like halfbred mules. I’m all in favour or breed’s adapting to meet market demands, after all without adapting many breeds would have died out long ago.

But, equally breed standards are set by breed societies to ensure the maintenance of a breed’s unique characteristics, in the case of the Blueface Leicester the blue hue to the skin is the obviously unique characteristic, lose that and you’re not so much adapting the breed as changing it beyond recognition.

However, in the current climate it is most definitely the crossing types which are making the money as the Mule trade continues to be the dominating factor in Blueface breeding.