A top price of €304 was recorded for Cheviot hoggets at Friday night's special ewe hogget and ewe lamb sale hosted by the Donegal Cheviot and Cheviot Cross Breeders Group.

The sale, which took place in Ballybofey and Stranorlar Mart, traded just shy of 700 sheep and recorded an average price of €215 for an entry of 181 Cheviot hoggets.

Top-quality strong Cheviot hoggets sold from €200 to €240, with a few lots exceeding this range and rising to a top of €304.

Medium-weight hogegts with good breeding potential sold from €180 to €195, with some lighter lots selling back to €150.

High average

An entry of in excess of 100 Suffolk-cross-Cheviot ewe hoggets recorded the highest average price of €231.

Just four lots of lighter hoggets sold under the €200 mark, with a handful of top-quality batches selling from €285 to €304, while the largest percentage of hoggets sold for €220 to €240/head.

There was two batches of Cheviot Mule sheep which sold for €225 and €232. In the region of 40 Blackface-cross-Cheviot hoggets averaged €168/head. Larger-framed hoggets sold from €200 to a top of €240, while the majority of light hill types sold from €130 to €150.

Ewe lambs

Cheviot ewe lambs were possibly the standout performer, with strong ewe lambs up €10 to €15 on 2022 levels. An entry of 140 ewe lambs recorded a fine average of €145. This category had the highest differential in price.

Several lots of nice-quality hoggets sold from €140 to €166, with two lots selling for €200 and €250. Light ewe lambs sold back to €112.

Suffolk-cross-Cheviot ewe lambs sold in the main from €120 to €160, with a few lots of light lambs selling back to €100/head.

Blackface-cross-Cheviot ewe lambs sold from €50 to €75 for light lambs reared on harder hills, with stronger lambs selling to €90 to €100.