Page 99 - British Blue Yearbook 2023

spring they sold 35 heifers at between 10-12 months old at Bishops Castle, where they sell all their cattle, averaging out at £1750. Generally over half the heifers go for breeding, with buyers returning year on year, prepared to pay a premium for the extra quality which the British Blue heifers offer.
Fashions have changed since those days, much for the better Tom says, with the locomotion and calving much improved, but the fundamental of the breed remains the same, with good muscling and a good carcase which kills out well, making it the butchers ideal beast. The bulls they buy come from the pedigree sale at either Shrewsbury or Carlisle, although in the early days it was mainly from the old Chelford centre. When buying a new bull they are always particularly keeping an eye on his locomotion, needing the bulls to walk and move well with so many cows to cover. They also like a bull which is square on his plates, not too heavily boned and one with plenty of length. In 2017 they purchased Downbyrigg Legend, a son of Colos Van Dasiel, for 9500gns out of Carlisle, he was the type of bull that they were looking for and has gone on to leave a mark in the herd, consistently breeding top notch calves. Another of the more influential bulls that they have
used was bought back in 2011, when they splashed out 8400gns on Auchenlay Eriskay. He was a long clean bull which suited the Kinnerton cattle well, leaving them with some cracking progeny.
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