A bumper entry of 1,400 sheep went under the hammer in a roaring trade at the weekly sale in Kilrea Mart on Monday.

With local processors and wholesalers finalising orders for the Easter market, in addition to the ongoing processing demand for Ramadan, sheep in good flesh were an easy sell.

This pen of hoggets, weighing 25kg halfweight, sold for£149.

This pen of hoggets, weighing 23.5kg halfweight, sold for £165.

This pen of hoggets, weighing 25kg halfweight, sold for £156.

This pen of hoggets, weighing 30kg halfweight, sold for £178.

This hogget, weighing 30kg halfweight, sold for £187.

Hoggets topped £200 for Texel lots weighing 30kg half-weight, followed by crossbred lots making £196 to £198, weighing 30kg to 33kg half-weight.

Purebred Suffolk lots sold to £190 for animals at similar weights, although numbers forwarded were extremely limited. Plainer Mule cross hoggets weighing upwards to 30kg tended to sell between £160 and £175, with meal-fed lots commanding prices at the upper end of this price range.

Midweights

Crossbred hoggets weighing 27kg to 28.5kg were a flying trade, with bidding repeatedly opening at £160 and escalating to prices between £170 and £180 for Texel- and Suffolk-bred animals.

Mule hoggets were met with strong demand, but quality was more varied and that was reflected in bidding, with prices ranging from £145 to £160.

Hoggets weighing 24kg to 26.5kg were a solid trade, with the main run of prices typically on £150 to £170, although a handful of exceptional quality lots sold above £180.

This pen of hoggets, weighing 24kg halfweight, sold for £160.

This pen of hoggets, weighing 24kg halfweight, sold for £152.

This hogget, weighing 33kg halfweight, sold for £196.

This pen of hoggets, weighing 24.5kg halfweight, sold for £159.

This pen of spring lambs, weighing 22.5kg halfweight, sold for £153.

This pen of hoggets, weighing 25.5kg halfweight, sold for £158.

Bidding on a big entry of hoggets weighing 21kg to 23.5kg, was heavily reflective of stock quality, with the top-end of the trade making £145 to £155.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, plainer and lighter types with a stronger hill breeding influence were returning £133 to £142.

Blackface

Meal-fed Blackface hoggets sold well, with prices hitting £149 for 25kg, with several pens making £128 to £140 for 22kg to 24kg. A very small entry of spring lambs sold to £153 for 22.5kg.

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