Bluefaced Leicester

Bluefaced Leicester
Traits
A Bluefaced Leicester ewe and her lambs
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Weight	Male: 110 kg (240 lb)
	Female: 89 kg (196 lb)
Wool color	White
Face color	Blue
Sheep Ovis aries

The Bluefaced Leicester is a longwool breed of sheep 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, the name Bluefaced Leicester became known at the beginning of the 20th century.^[1] In the 1970s, the Bluefaced Leicester was exported to Canada. Exported frozen semen from the United Kingdom is now used to expand the genetic diversity in Canada and the United States.^[2] This breed is raised primarily for meat, but their fleece is becoming increasingly popular for handspinning. 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.^[3]

Characteristics

They have curly threadlike wool which makes it considerably lighter than others. Some fleeces only weigh 1 to 3 kg (2.2 to 6.6 lb). These particular kind of sheep have no wool on the head or neck, although the pattern and shape of the wool is most like the Wensleydale.

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 breed, and commonly used as sires for mules.

Fully grown Blueface rams can weigh up to 110 kg (240 lb) and ewes up to 89 kg (196 lb). At maturity and at the withers, rams are 90 cm (35 in) tall and ewes 85 cm (33 in) tall.^[3]

References

↑ "Bluefaced Leicester". Breeds of Sheep. Oklahoma State University Dept. of Animals Science. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
↑ "Bluefaced Leicester". Sheep Breeds Be-Br. Sheep101.info. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
1 2 "Bluefaced Leicester/United Kingdom". Breed data sheet. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System. Retrieved 2009-05-18.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bluefaced Leicester.

Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders Association - United Kingdom
Bluefaced Leicester Breeders Association - United States
Bluefaced Leicester Union of North America

Livestock breeds of the British Isles

Cattle

Beef cattle	Angus Belted Galloway Devon Dexter English Longhorn Hereford Highland Luing Shorthorn South Devon Sussex Welsh Black

Dairy cattle	Ayrshire Guernsey Jersey Milking Shorthorn

Dual purpose	British White Gloucester Pembroke Red Poll

Primitive	Chillingham wild cattle Vaynol White Park cattle

Sheep

Extant	Beulah Speckled Face Bluefaced Leicester Border Leicester British Milk Cheviot Clun Forest Cotswold Dalesbred Derbyshire Gritstone Devon Closewool Devon Longwoolled Dorset Down English Leicester Exmoor Horn Galway Greyface Dartmoor Hampshire Herdwick Hill Radnor Kerry Hill Lincoln Llanwenog Lleyn Lonk Norfolk Horn Oxford Down Portland Romney Rough Fell Ryeland Scottish Blackface Shetland Shropshire Southdown sheep Suffolk Swaledale Teeswater Welsh Mountain Wensleydale Whitefaced Woodland Wiltshire Horn

Primitive	Boreray Castlemilk Moorit Hebridean Jacob Manx Loaghtan North Ronaldsay Soay

Extinct	Scottish Dunface

Pigs

Extant	Berkshire British Landrace British Lop British Saddleback Essex Gloucestershire Old Spots Hampshire Large Black Large White Middle White Oxford Sandy and Black Tamworth Welsh Wessex Saddleback

Extinct	Cumberland Grice Lincolnshire Curly-coated Small Black Small White Yorkshire Blue and White

Goats

Anglo-Nubian Bilberry British Alpine Golden Guernsey Irish

Poultry

Chickens	Burford Brown Cornish Derbyshire Redcap Dorking Ixworth Marsh Daisy Modern Game Modern Langshan Norfolk Grey Old English Game Old English Pheasant Fowl Orpington Rosecomb Scots Dumpy Scots Grey Sebright Sussex

Ducks	Abacot Ranger Aylesbury Orpington Khaki Campbell Magpie Shetland Welsh harlequin

Geese	Brecon Buff Shetland

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