The Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) is a longwool
breed
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
of
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
which evolved from a breeding scheme of Robert Bakewell, in Dishley, Leicestershire in the eighteenth century. First known as the Dishley Leicester, and then the Hexham Leicester, because of the prevalence of the breed in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
, the name Bluefaced Leicester became known at the beginning of the 20th century.
[
] In the 1970s, the Bluefaced Leicester was exported to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Exported frozen
semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen i ...
from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
is now used to expand the genetic diversity in Canada and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
[
] This breed is raised primarily for
meat
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
, but their fleece is becoming increasingly popular for
handspinning
Spinning is an ancient textile arts, textile art in which fibre crop, plant, animal fibre, animal or synthetic fibre, synthetic fibres are drawn out and twisted together to form yarn. For thousands of years, fibre was spun by hand using simple ...
. Bluefaced Leicester sheep may also have brown on their face. The sell record has been set by a brown ram lamb selling for 23,000 guineas.
[
]
Characteristics
BFL sheep have curly, fine, rather lustrous
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
which is one of the softest of the UK clip. The fleeces are not very heavy, only weighing . They have no wool on the head or neck, although the pattern and shape of the wool is most like the
Wensleydale
Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England.
It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...
, but having smaller, tighter curls.
Bluefaced Leicesters are recognisable through their Roman noses, which have a dark blue skin which can be seen through the white hair, hence the name. They are tangentially related to the original
Leicester Longwool
The Leicester Longwool is an England, English list of sheep breeds, breed of sheep. Alternative names for the breed include: Leicester, Bakewell Leicester, Dishley Leicester, English Leicester, Improved Leicester and New Leicester. It was origi ...
breed. BFL rams are put over hill sheep ewes to produce
mules, which combine the prolificacy of the BFL with the hardiness and mothering ability of the hill sheep (- mules are the UK's most numerous sheep).
Fully grown Blueface rams can weigh up to and ewes up to . At maturity and at the withers, rams are tall and ewes tall.
References
External links
Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders Association- United Kingdom
www.blueleicester.de- Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders' Association in Deutschland e.V.
Bluefaced Leicester Breeders Association- United States
Bluefaced Leicester Union of North America
Sheep breeds
Sheep breeds originating in England
{{British livestock, R.1