BLUEFACED Leicesters may be renowned for having a death wish, but nothing could be further from the truth at Hamildean, Peebles, where the breed's prolificacy and longevity has enabled Colin Dick not only to produce an up and coming pedigree flock but also some top quality Scotch Mule ewe lambs.

While Colin, who farms with his parents Jim and Linda Dick at Hamildean, Peebles, have only sold Blue rams and Mule ewe lambs for the past three years, such has been their success, that shearling rams have sold to £3200 and £3100 at Kelso, with their first year yielding an average of £1790 for five, in 2012.

Scotch Mule ewe lambs have sold well on the back of these sales too, as the majority of shearlings are used at home as tup lambs, with the resultant progeny peaking at £128. And while ewe lambs have always proved popular selling at St Boswells, this year, the team will also be selling gimmers at Lanark and ewe lambs at United Auctions, Stirling, today (Saturday) for the first time.

More impressive is the fact that most of these sales stem back to one of the first pet lambs, gifted to Colin by his grand-father, Douglas Hall of the Firth flock from Lilyburn, Penicuik, many moons ago.

"I always thought there was potential for us to breed Blues and Scotch Mule ewe lambs here, having seen them at my grand-parents' when I was young," said Colin, who prior to the introduction of the breed to Hamildean, saw all lambs sold finished off this 1200-acre hill unit.

There was never any doubting which type of Blue to breed from either.

"For me, the crossing-type has always been seen as the modern type of sheep and the way forward. They also appear to live the longest as one of the first pet ewe lambs I was given was Firth A75, a Midlock Controversy-sired ewe which is still going strong," said Colin, pointing out that she is also the dam of two of the best breeding shearling rams bound for Kelso, next week, and yet still looks like a two-crop ewe. Not surprisingly, he intends to flush her this year.

Colin's plans were never just about breeding Bluefaced Leicester tups though as he remains just as enthusiastic about producing the ever popular Scotch Mule as a breeding female.

"The Scotch Mule is the best mother of all the sheep breeds because she's got good, natural mothering ability and longevity on both sides. There will always be a demand for the Mule because there are no alternatives out there," he added.

With 1000 ewes on this steep Borders' hill unit which rises from 700-1500ft above sea level, the farm is very much at risk from the elements, and split into various breeds and crosses accordingly.

Of the 1000 ewes run at Hamildean, 400 are Blackfaces of which 100 are kept pure to breed replacement females, with 300 tupped mostly to home-bred Bluefaced Leicester tup lambs to breed Scotch Mules to sell, and keep for stock.

The remaining 600 ewes comprise 300 Scotch Mules, tupped to a Texel to breed replacement females and wedder lambs sold deadweight through Woodhead Brothers. The remaining 300, are Texel cross Scotch Mules, which are lambed as hoggs to a Berrichon and to a Suffolk as gimmers and ewes.

While both Jim and Colin are the first to admit there is nothing to beat the Scotch Mule for her mothering ability, they also believe however, the Texel cross Mule is able to produce a better quality lamb albeit with a lot more work.

Jim said: "A Scotch Mule will always be the best mother, but a Texel cross Mule produces a better lamb and she herself can be worth an extra £5 per head in the market compared to the Mule.

"As a two-crop, a Texel cross Mule and a Scotch Mule can be equally good mothers producing the same amount of lambs - the difference between the two is you have to train the Texel cross to want her lambs and look after them."

He added: "The good thing about lambing Texel cross Mules as hoggs is, they have a chance to get used to having a lamb and when it's a Berrichon which just slips out and is full of vigour, you never have to sook it. A Berrichon onto a hogg is a great cross, as they produce lambs that are easy lambed and finish quicker than a Beltex cross."

In contrast to most commercial enterprises, the Dicks also sell all breeding ewes as three-crop instead of four-crop, thereby adding value to them as they are still classified as a breeding female instead of a cull ewe.

Outwith the change in policy to produce more breeding females both to sell and to retain, extensive grassland reseeding schemes over the years at well above 1000ft have also helped bolster productivity and profitability such that scanned lambing percentages work out at 205% for the Scotch Mules and Texel cross Mules which are run as one flock and fed the exact same, while the Blackies, which are run higher up the hill produce 150-160%. Ewes are only split after scanning and according to condition and the amount of lambs they are carrying.

Lambing commences during the first week in March for the pure Blues, with the bulk of the Mules beginning the last week in March. All triplet and single-bearing ewes lamb inside, with the twins outside. The Blackie lambing normally begins April 10, outside.

It was nevertheless the mothering ability and prolificacy of the Bluefaced Leicester that first inspired young Colin all those years ago, and still does to this day according to Linda, who despite having come through two traumatic years of treatment for breast cancer, and having raised just shy of £35,000 to support various breast cancer charities, remains as enthusiastic about farming as ever.

"Bluefaced Leicesters just make you smile especially at lambing time," she said. "You know they will follow you if you pick up their lambs to take them to shelter, even if it's a gimmer and you have to take them through another lambing field."

As for the type of Blue and Scotch Mule, the boys look to breed, Colin said: "We look for the four c's in any type of sheep - carcase, character, clean colours and a good coat which is so important in any breed as a sign of fleshing ability. Good clean colours point to milkiness and crossing ability and character shows potential longevity."

While Colin's pedigree flock now numbers 25 breeding females, it originates from several ewe lambs gifted to him from his grand-father, who also gave him two cracking females for his 21st birthday, almost 10 years ago. Since then, two other females were purchased at John Kerr's Craigskean dispersal, with another two bought from Jamie Pirie, Blairnavaid, and one from Paul and Granville Fairburn, Marriforth.

Tups have either been used on loan from the Firth flock, or bought at Hawes. And, by not shearing them, such rams last for years, with some in the past having gone out to tup Blackie ewes at 1100ft as seven, and eight shears.

Some of the best performing rams include a C9 Firth, used on loan from Lilyburn, an F11 Agglethorpe, and a G1 Lunesdale.

It's very much a family affair at Hamildean though as while Jim and Colin are involved in the sheep work, Charlie Lawrie, who has just received his long service medal for 50 years with the Dicks, does most of the tractor and cattle work which includes attending to 55 Limousin cross cows, all of which are bulled to a Limousin with the resultant progeny sold as stores through St Boswells and Lanark.

It is Linda who attends to the all important marketing side of the business too. As a keen photographer, often supplying The SF with quality countryside portraits, she is also the one behind the scenes capturing those vital shots of the Scotch Mule ewe lambs and gimmers at Hamildean according to their sires.

She and Jim have also built up an extremely successful free range chicken and duck egg enterprise, the produce of which is highly sought after in Edinburgh restaurants and delicatessans and by well known TV chefs such as Sue Lawrence and Nick Nairn, and Clarissa Dickson Wright, prior to her death.

For now though, it's very much all hands on deck in preparation of next week's Kelso Ram Sales, where this year, the Hamildean flock will be the third lot in the ring.

They have a cracking team of shearlings though to include five sons of the Agglethorpe F1 and four by the Firth F11, which was used on loan.

This year the family will also be taking four lambs to Carlisle for the first time which includes one by the Nunscleugh G21, another by the F33 Riddings, and two sons of Lunesdale G1, one of which was champion Bluefaced Leicester at Dalkeith Show.