The pedigree

The studbook Bleu du Maine originated from the Breed Club Bleu du Maine. This breeding club was founded on March 11, 1992.

In 2019, the Association was officially recognized by the RVO as a studbook.

The studbook is a member of the Federation of Foreign NSFO Studbook Sheep. Associations/studbooks are affiliated with this Federation, which strive to maintain and improve foreign sheep breeds.

The studbook aims to:
The maintenance and improvement of the Bleu du Maine sheep and the protection of the interests of the breeders and keepers thereof.

The studbook tries to achieve its goal by, among other things

  1. Compliance with and maintenance of the Rules for Participation in the studbook 
  2. Providing information about breeding and keeping Bleu du Maine sheep, not only with regard to breeding techniques, but also with regard to economic and financial aspects
  3. Affiliation with the aforementioned Federation
  4. Setting up departments within the association in which holders and/or breeders of a specific variety mentioned by the member are united
  5. All other means that may be conducive to the goal.

Within the studbook there is a Breeding Technical Committee, appointed by the board, which advises the studbook on all breeding matters.

The breeding committee has the following tasks:

  1. Inspecting the sheep and expressing this inspection by means of points on an inspection form made available.
  2. Drafting guidelines and procedures for breeding and keeping.
  3. Drawing up technical programs for, among other things, premiering for rams and ewes
  4. Weighing programs
  5. Registration

All this under the responsibility of the board and ratified by the general meeting of members.

The Breeding Technical Committee also carries out the annual Autumn Inspection. This inspection is intended to carry out the various exterior inspections. It is carried out in the period from August to the end of December by the breeding committee. Every company is eligible for a company visit during this period.

In addition, the breeding committee is responsible for inspections, shows and other events organized by the studbook.

The studbook is a member of the Dutch Sheep and Goat Breeders Organization (NSFO). This is an association for and of sheep and goat breeders. Both the Board and the Supervisory Board consist entirely of active sheep and goat farmers. As an association, they are not-for-profit. Quality, innovation and customer focus are the keywords for their services:

  1. Registration of sheep and goats and their lineage
  2. Performance studies
  3. Breeding value calculation
  4. Blood and DNA testing of sheep and goats
  5. Issuance of animal health certificates

All members from the active membership file and subscribed to NSFO-online can find their stable list on the NSFO site and fill in the breeding list related to it and make birth reports. The sta list lists all animals present on the farm with the most recent breeding data. NSFO carries out all tasks related to the registration for our studbook.

Every year the Studbook organizes the National Bleu du Maine Inspection at the Landgoed Marienwaerdt in Beesd.

In addition, there is the annual General Meeting of Members in which all matters of importance to the members are discussed and decisions are made. Subsequently, the Rammen inspection takes place.