Bleu du Maine

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. It is raised primarily for meat.

History
The Bleu du Maine shares some ancestry with the Rouge de l'Ouest. 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. 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. It is reared mainly in the Mayenne, the Sarthe, and in Maine-et-Loire; its range extends into the Orne in southern Normandy.

A flock-book was started in 1927; the breed received the official recognition of the Ministère de l'Agriculture in 1948. In 2015 the total population was estimated at just under 11 000, of which 1703 were recorded in the flock-book. In 2007 the conservation status of the breed world-wide was listed by the FAO as "not at risk"; in 2021 the status for France only was reported to DAD-IS as "endangered".

Some have been exported to European countries, and to Ethiopia; in 2021 the breed was reported from Belgium, France, Holland, Ireland and the United Kingdom. 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.

Characteristics
The Bleu du Maine is a large heavy sheep: rams weigh some, ewes about. 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.

Use
The Bleu du Maine is reared primarily for meat. Prolificity is reported to be 1.88.

Fleeces weigh some, with a staple length of approximately and fineness of Bradford count  equivalent to approximately