Conservation status | |
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Other names |
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Country of origin | France |
Standard | Organisme de Sélection |
Use | meat, wool |
Traits | |
Weight | |
Height | |
Wool colour | white |
Face colour | blue |
Horn status | polled |
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The Bleu du Maine is a French breed of domestic sheep. It originated in the historic region of Maine, and is distributed mainly in the départements of Maine-et-Loire, the Mayenne and the Sarthe in the Pays de la Loire in western France.
It is a large and prolific sheep, characterised by the distinctive blue face from which its name derives. [3]: 765 It is raised primarily for meat. [2]
The Bleu du Maine shares some ancestry with the Rouge de l'Ouest. [3]: 764 It derives from cross-breeding in the early nineteenth century of the now-extinct Choletais – named for the town of Cholet in southern Maine-et-Loire – with imported British Leicester Longwool or Dishley Leicester stock. Towards the end of the century there was some influence from the Wensleydale, from which the characteristic blue face derives. [3]: 764 As the name suggests, the breed originated in the historic region of Maine, principally in the areas surrounding the towns of Bazougers in the département of Mayenne and Sablé-sur-Sarthe and Souvigné-sur-Sarthe in the Sarthe. [4] It is reared mainly in the Mayenne, the Sarthe, and in Maine-et-Loire; its range extends into the Orne in southern Normandy. [4]
A flock-book was started in 1927; [5] the breed received the official recognition of the Ministère de l'Agriculture in 1948. [3]: 765 In 2015 the total population was estimated at just under 11 000, of which 1703 were recorded in the flock-book. [5] In 2007 the conservation status of the breed world-wide was listed by the FAO as "not at risk"; [1]: 146 in 2021 the status for France only was reported to DAD-IS as "endangered". [2]
Some have been exported to European countries, and to Ethiopia; [3]: 765 in 2021 the breed was reported from Belgium, France, Holland, Ireland and the United Kingdom. [6] Some were exported to the United Kingdom in 1980 for use as mule sires; the resulting ewes were found to be considerably less productive than daughters of British breeds such as the Blue-faced Leicester, the Border Leicester and the British Milksheep. [3]: 765
The Bleu du Maine is a large heavy sheep: rams weigh some 110–120 kg, ewes about 80–90 kg. [3]: 765 It is characterised by a distinctive blue face, varying in colour from almost black to a reddish tinge. The fleece is white. The face is broad, with a slightly convex profile; it and the legs are free of wool. [3]: 765
The Bleu du Maine is reared primarily for meat. [2] Prolificity is reported to be 1.88. [4]
Fleeces weigh some 4–6 kg, with a staple length of approximately 80–100 mm and fineness of Bradford count 50s–56s, equivalent to approximately 27–30 μm. [3]: 765