Bluefaced Leicester Sheep (BFL)

What the Bluefaced Leicester Union (registry in the United States) has to say about the BFLs:
"The Bluefaced Leicester is very distinct with its Roman nose, long, upright earset, and deep blue skin contrasted with soft, white, demi-lustre wool. The BFL also has recessive color genetics, and “Natural Colored” lambs can be produced. Both rams and ewes are polled. They have a clean head/face, legs, and belly (free of wool). The BFL is classified as a Longwool breed. It is one of the three Leicester breeds of sheep… the English Leicester Longwool, the Border Leicester, and of course, the Bluefaced Leicester."

Characteristics - BFL sheep have curly, fine, rather lustrous wool which is one of the softest of the UK clip. The fleeces are not very heavy, only weighing 2.2 to 6.6 lb. They have no wool on the head or neck, although the pattern and shape of the wool is most like the Wensleydale, but having smaller, tighter curls. Bluefaced Leicesters are recognizable through their Roman noses, which have a dark blue skin which can be seen through the white hair, hence the name. They are tangentially related to the original Leicester Longwool breed. BFL rams are put over hill sheep ewes to produce mules, which combine the prolificacy of the BFL with the hardiness and mothering ability of the hill sheep (- mules are the UK's most numerous sheep). Fully grown Blueface rams can weigh up to 240 lbs and ewes up to 196 lbs. At maturity and at the withers, rams are 35 in tall and ewes 33 in tall.

History - "Descendents of Robert Bakewell’s improved Dishley Leicester, the Bluefaced Leicester evolved near Hexham in Northumberland, England, in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Classified as a Longwool breed, it is one of three Leicester sheep breeds: the English Leicester Longwool, the Border Leicester, and the Bluefaced Leicester. It has the finest fleece of the three Leicester breeds, and the softest fleece of all Longwool breeds. It is also known by the name Hexham Leicester. In the United Kingdom, the BFL ram is a fundamental part of their “stratified 3-tier breeding system.” A BFL ram is used to cross on a Hill breed ewe, such as a Scottish Blackface, Swaledale, Cheviot, or Clun Forest, to create the famous “Mule.” Here in North America, the BFL ram is creating Mules out of a number of other available breeds as well. Besides the production of Mules, the Bluefaced Leicester has also proven itself to be a tremendous cross for fleece improvement. In the US, fleece for the handspinner’s market is in demand, and the BFL makes a great cross for this purpose. Some of the most popular BFL crosses are with Border Leicester, Wensleydale, and Shetland. We’ve seen other 2- and 3-way crosses including Corriedale and Texel! There are many other fleece breeds that you might try. High percentage crosses (3/4 and above) create gorgeous fleeces for handspinning."