Gathering a large crowd to Ballymena Livestock Market was the Northern Ireland Region Bluefaced Leicester female sale.

The quality of sheep on offer at the sale was extremely high and demand for these high-end lots from breeders across Ireland and the UK led to a powerful average of £1,330 (€1,584).

The clearance rate was also high, with 85% of lots finding new homes on the day.

Topping the sale at 6,500gns (€8,126) was a stand-out in-lamb shearling ewe from the Freehall flock of M Kelly. The Temain-sired shearling ewe was scanned in-lamb to 3790/T007 Knockstaken.

The successful purchaser of this lot was Draperstown-based breeder Declan McElhennon. Kelly averaged an impressive 2,900gns (€3,625) for his pen of three in-lamb shearling ewes.

The judge for the pre-sale show was Donegal man Keiran McGrath of the Caoramor flock. Catching his eye was a powerful ewe lamb from the Ballytober flock of J Mills.

Overall reserve Champion from the Giants Causeway flock that sold for 2,000gns. / Mullagh Photography

She went on to sell for 3,800gns (€4,750) to Douglas Nisbet after a flurry of bids. Mills sold two more impressive ewe lambs to leave him with a strong average of 2,100gns (€2,625).

McGrath’s pick for reserve champion was the day’s second-place ewe lamb; she was another great example of the breed. She hailed from the well-known Giant’s Causeway flock of Declan McKillop.

The March 2024-born triplet was sired by Shitlington S12 and sold for 2,000gns (€2,500) to Monaghan breeder Deirdre Clinton.

It was McKillop that also took the next top price of the day for his lead ewe lamb. She was sired by Mistyburn Monty and sold for 1,900gns (€2,376) to the Scottish flock of Craig Borthwick.

The Giant’s Causeway flock took home an average of 1,044gns (€1,305) for their eight ewe lambs sold.

Sale topping in-lamb shearling ewe from the Freehall flock that sold for 6,500gns. / Mullagh Photography