How breeding quality prime lambs led to formation of renowned flock

Farming 130 acres in Kinawley, Co Fermanagh is one of Northern Ireland’s leading pedigree sheep breeders, Matthew Burleigh. Matthew farms alongside his fiancée Rachel Almond and his parents, William and Margaret.

They run a flock of 300 ewes, made up of 50 pedigree Beltex, Blue Texel and Badgerface ewes and 250 commercial ewes mostly made up of Suffolk-cross ewes. They also run a herd of 30 autumn- and spring-calving suckler cows.

Growing up, Matthew always had a draw toward the Beltex breed, with his father William using Beltex rams heavily across his commercial flock to breed top-quality prime lambs.

Over the years of attending the pedigree Beltex sales to purchase stock rams for his father’s flock, Matthew became hooked, which led to him purchasing his first pedigree females.

The first pedigree Beltex lambs were then born on the farm in the spring of 2006 and each year the Beltex flock has gone from strength to strength.

Following on from the successful establishment of the Beltex flock, the Burleighs were drawn towards a second breed. This second breed was the Blue Texel.

The first pedigree Blue Texel lambs were born on the farm in 2020. This second breed venture proved very successful for the flock, with many achievements in both the show and sales ring.

In 2022, Matthew and Rachel were drawn towards their third breed – Badgerface Texels. The Badgerface flock was then established with a small number of select females.

Matthew stated that when establishing the pedigree flock “all of the breeds were selected for similar traits that we find are the most profitable in breeding both high-end pedigree and commercial sheep, which has had a strong impact on the success of the pedigree flock over the years”.

Since flock establishment, showing has been a huge part of the flock’s development.

Showing at Balmoral since 2010, Matthew has been lucky enough to win numerous Beltex championships.

The Burleighs also picked up reserve female champion Badgerface Texel on their only occasion showing Badgerface Texels at Balmoral in 2023.

The national championships have also been very successful days for the flock over the years, winning a large number of Beltex national championships and two back-to-back Badgerface Texel national championships in 2023 and 2024.

Matthew sells a large number of pedigree sheep each year at society sales throughout the UK and Northern Ireland, which has seen many major successes in the sales rings over the years with many champions and record-breaking prices obtained.

One of the standout sales ring successes for Burleigh over the years was selling his Beltex ram lamb Matt’s Flash Harry for 45,000gns at the Carlisle Beltex premier sale in 2020. This was a record-breaking price for a Beltex ram lamb and still stands as the breed record for a Beltex ram lamb.

Selling Beltex females has also paid off hugely for the Burleighs, with Beltex females selling to highs of 8,000gns in the sales ring.

Matthew’s first year selling Blue Texels, at the premier sale in Carlise was in 2021, he got off to a super start selling a shearling ewe Matt’s Escobabe for 12,000gns and ewe lamb Matt’s Flash Harriet for 8,000gns, which was then a current breed record for a Blue Texel ewe lamb.

Not to be outdone by the success of 2021, Matthew was back again in 2022 to sell his shearling ewe Matt’s Fittest for 20,000gns and his ram lamb Matt’s Gypsy King for 10,000gns.

Blue Texel success continued for the flock in 2023 with Matt’s Hitman selling for 8,000gns.

Matt’s Halo was sold for 4,000gns in Carlisle in 2024, which was the top-priced Blue Texel female on the day. Matt’s Jupiter was also sold for £10,000 in 2024 in a private deal to top leading NI breeders.

Upcoming Sassy Sapphires

Due to the current bluetongue restrictions in the UK, Matthew has decided to sell his females that would have been destined for sales throughout the UK in an online timed auction through MartEye and Harrison & Hetherington. The sale is running from 29 November to 1 December. There will also be a guest consignment from the Derg Blue Texel flock of Allen Shortt.

For the sale, Matthew’s flock has three Blue Texel stock ewes, two Badgerface Texel stock ewes, 14 Blue Texel shearling ewes and four Badgerface Texel shearling ewes.

All of the ewes and shearlings are scanned in-lamb to some of the top sires within the breeds. Blue Texel stock ewes include full sisters to the 20,000gns Matt’s Fittest and the 10,000gns Matt’s Gypsyking. These ewes are sired by the renowned Drumard Ed, one of the most influential rams in the breed.

They themselves have also bred lambs into four-figure prices on numerous occasions and several daughters have been retained from them.

Matthew says: “We have always set ourselves a goal of being a small flock and our ewe numbers are creeping up and that is the only reason we are offering ewes like these for sale.”

Blue Texel shearling ewe entries come from some of the best genetic lines within the flock being sired by Mullygarrow Grey Goose that has bred sons to 8,000gns and daughters to 4,000gns and homebred sire Matt’s Good Year that has bred very well.

There will also be five special Blue Texel ewe lambs forward from Matthew’s flock.

This special entry includes two full sisters to the £10,000 Matt’s Jupiter that was sold earlier in the year into the Derg and Knockmult flocks.

All of the Blue Texel ewe lambs entered are sired by exciting new up-and-coming stock ram Sam’s Houdini, which has bred lambs to £10,000 in his first breeding season.

Houdini is the service sire for all of the in-lamb Blue Texel lots.

Included in the Sassy Sapphires Badgerface Texel lineup is the mother of the Carlise premier sale overall reserve champion and the 2023 Badgerface Texel national champion.

The four Badgerface Texel shearling ewes are sired by the renowned Duhnow Frank the Tank, which has bred top-priced lambs. All of the Badgerface Texel lots are scanned in-lamb to the 7,000gns Brougher Cruiser.