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Thursday, 26 October 2006 |
 Hilary
and I moved to Worcestershire with our young family in 1967 and I
worked as a veterinary surgeon in the county until retirement in
2002. We have been keeping and rearing sheep since 1986.
Having seen Bleu Du Main sheep in Worcestershire belonging to a former
client, I was attracted to the breed for their good looks, dual
purpose, good conformation and prolific, easy lambing. A borrowed
Bleu ram (Euclid) was crossed with one of my Suffolk ewes and I was so
impressed with the resulting lamb I decided to go with the pure breed.
In 1989 I bought three ewes and built up the flock from there. At
any one time I normally have approx 12 ewes, a stock ram and 2/3
shearling rams coming on for sale. They are kept on 5 acres of my own
land but I also rent grass locally. Having always worked with and been
involved with livestock it is very satisfying to rear and develop the
flock.
right: Astley Arizona Champion Bleu Du Maine NSA Ram Sale 2004
We started showing at the Three Counties Show in 1996 and
have attended numerous shows since then including Monmouth, Three
Counties, Brecon and Royal Welsh (Builth). We are proud to have
bred many successful entries over the years including Astley Zinzan who
won the Royal Show in 2003 (entered by Percy Tait who we sold him to
and subsequently to Sally Johnson) and other titles in the same year.
In 2004 The Astley Bleu du Maine flock was awarded the
EBLEX Better Returns Programme "Progressive Flock Award". This
award is presented to the English Signet performance recorded flock
that makes the greatest improvement in the breeding potential of their
lamb crop during the year. In my flock the breeding potential for
growth to 21 weeks of age of my lambs increased by 1kg, with equally
large improvements in muscling. As a result the average index of
my lamb crop increased by 35 points in 2004. See links page for
information on Bleu Sires, EBLEX and Signet schemes.
We aim to promote and develop the breed to a sound commercial level
with cross breed lambs/females for breeding and meat production.
We usually have lambs and shearling males/females for sale. We
would be very pleased to hear from you if you are interested in a
purchase.
By the way, the lovely picture of Astley
Kojak, our first stock ram who appears on the home page and as our
logo, was painted by Hilary. I would like to thank Hilary for her
unstinting support and hard work all year round to make Astley Bleu du
Maine a sucessful and profitable flock.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 29 October 2006 )
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