NEXT week's inaugural show and sale of Dutch Spotted Sheep at Borderway Mart, Carlisle, is expected to attract huge interest, with this strikingly marked sheep having already caught the eye of many flockmasters since its arrival into the UK.

Renowned for it's quality carcase, high milk yield, easy lambing, hard feed, mobility and easy temperament, the breed is attracting interest both from pedigree and commercial breeders with cross-bred prime lambs being sold at a premium this year across the country as butchers report the meat has a unique taste and flavour, according to reports from the breed society.

First imported into the UK in 2015, the breed society, Dutch Spotted Sheep UK, was formed and quickly moved through to official charity status to attain DEFRA approval. It then became the National Sheep Association’s (NSA) affiliated and official breed society for The Dutch Spotted Sheep, which is now also a recognised pedigree breed within the UK.

Now around 18 months old, the fledgling society DSS(UK) is growing by the day with 65 members and approximately 600 sheep within the flock book.

Originating back to around 1880, Dutch Spotted Sheep hail from their native homeland in The Netherlands, where they were originally kept in an area in the western part of Holland; roughly in the area between the cities of Leiden, Utrecht and Rotterdam.

During the 17th-19th centuries, farmers and authorities required a hardy breed of sheep to maintain the grass on the newly reclaimed low embankments (quays) and in later stages the sheep played an important part in transforming the peat bog into sod, which was eventually strong enough to carry cows.

The sheep had to be able to walk long distances (due to the length of these connected embankments) and also be able to withstand the acidic PH level of the peat bogs.

During the 1950s, farmers started making use of the specific qualities of the original Dutch spotted sheep and, with careful breeding, a sheep with greater profitability and benefits along with the characteristics of the modern day Dutch Spotted Sheep was evolved.

During the last 20 years, The Dutch Spotted Sheep has been classed as a pure sheep in their own right and this is the sheep that is becoming so intriguing within Holland, Europe and now the UK and Ireland.

As a result, the popularity of The Dutch Spotted Sheep is rapidly growing within the UK after they have been seen to be consistently winning championships within the showring at major and royal shows and also being purchased by experienced pedigree and commercial breeders.

DSS(UK) has been carefully selecting quality genetics and bloodlines to import as the foundation or baseline pedigrees. Such was the success of the 2017 import and the size of the society’s reserve or waiting list for the sheep, and as part of the 2018/19 development programme, DSS(UK) has also just successfully completed their second bulk import and selection day for approximately 100 sheep.

The inaugural breed show and sale on Friday, August, 31, has attracted an entry of six females and 22 rams, with DSS(UK) showcasing several different crossbred sheep on the day so the commercial farmer can see the progeny from this new breed.