The race

The Bleu du Maine, originally called Mounton Bleu, was created at the end of the last century from a cross between the Chotelais and the Leicester or the Chotelais and the Websleydale. It is an excellent pasture breed and a large sheep with a lot of volume. It is not certain which crossing caused the blue head. An extremely strict selection has ensured that it has become one of the most productive varieties in the world.

breeding program

The first Mounton Bleu Breeders Association was founded in the late 1920s. The studbook, which was founded in 1938, was first recognized in 1948. At that time, a standard had already been drawn up to anchor the desired breed characteristics from the crossed material. The Bleu du Maine are meat-wool sheep par excellence. If the young ewes weigh more than 45 kg at the time of mating, they give birth to lambs already in the first year in 90% of the cases. It has been established that 65% of the ewe lambs does this already in the first year without this condition. We can therefore without doubt speak of a variety that reaches sexual maturity early.

Fertile? The Bleu du Maine certainly is: an average of 2.20 lamb per pedigree ewe and on the best pedigree breeding farms an average of 2.42 lamb per ewe is even achieved. The ewe can easily suckle the young, partly due to the natural richness of milk. That is also the cause of the actual weight gain between the 10th and 30th day of life of an average of 280 grams per day. Considering the low birth weight of 3.5 – 4 kg, that is not bad. Another (economic) good quality is the longevity of the variety. There are enough breeders who sometimes don't have to replace a single ewe for a year.

In France, the breeding program to improve genetics mainly focuses on the fertility of the ewes. The variation in fertility still deserves a lot of attention. As mentioned, the Bleu du maine has a high milk content. This allows for a greater number of lambs per litter. The variety is suitable for production hybrids (crosses that increase yields) and therefore emphasis is placed on developing the characteristics for meat production.

Breed characteristics

Blue du maine  hornless sheep with dark blue, broad forehead.
Head  polled, dark blue, the forehead broad and without wool, the broad nose is slightly arched, the eye sockets protrude forward, the dark blue ears are long, set high and not hanging down.
Neck  is of medium height and well placed on broad shoulders.
Shoulders  are strongly muscled and slightly erect, while the chest is broad and deep.
Back  is straight and regular, the loins long and broad in the croup and the tail low.
Weight  the average weight of the rams is 110-120 kg and of the ewes 80-90 kg.
Legs  correct and unclouded, the front legs straight under the knee, the hind legs straight under the box with a clear hock.
Wool  white all over the body, except the head and legs, the free straight wool fiber is 8-10 cm long and has a thickness of 27-30 microns.