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The Breed with the Remarkable Muscle Development! |
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TEXEL BREED STANDARDS & HISTORY
Below is a list of breed
standards that Texel sheep breeders should follow:
Other major notable
attributes of Texel Sheep:
Brief History of Texel Sheep & Information
History:
The Texel originated on the Isle of Texel
off the coast of The Netherlands early in the nineteenth century. The
original Old Texel was probably a short-tailed variety of sheep. Limited
importations of
Lincoln and
Leicester Longwool were crossed with this stock during the mid-1800’s.
The characteristics of the breed were established early on through a series
of local showing competitions on the island. The emphasis was on a sheep
that would produce heavily muscled lambs of superior eating quality. Since
the primary market for these lambs was Continental Europe where excess fat
on meat cuts has always been unpopular, significant effort was also made to
produce a sheep that had a low propensity for fat deposition.
The first Texels in the United States were
imported by the Meat Animal Research Center at Clay Center, NE in 1985.
After a five-year quarantine, some were released for purchase by private
individuals in 1990 and subsequent years. Private importations have since
been made by a handful of breeders in the United States.
Appearance:
The Texel breed today is a white-faced
breed with no wool on the head or legs. The breed is characterized by a
distinctive short, wide face with a black nose and widely placed, short ears
with a nearly horizontal carriage. These sheep also have black hooves. The
wool is of medium grade (46’s-56’s) with no black fibers. Mature animals
shear fleece weights of 3.5-5.5 kg.
Carcass:
The most outstanding feature of the Texel
breed, however, is its remarkable muscle development and leanness. Research
results from Clay Center and the University of Wisconsin indicate that
Texel-sired lambs typically have a 6-10% advantage in loin-eye area when
compared to American black-face-sired lambs. (In fact, many Texel breeders
routinely scan loin-eyes as a selection tool and are finding 4+ square
inches to be quite common with 5 square inch eyes appearing fairly often.)
Texel-sired lambs also show an advantage of one full leg score in these
comparisons and less total carcass fat—especially seam fat. This is
significant in that seam fat is much harder to trim manually during
fabrication than are subcutaneous and internal fat deposits. Curiously, even
though Texel lambs in these trials grew slightly slower than the black-faced
lambs, their feed efficiency was better. In a trial comparing Texel ram
lambs to black-faced ram lambs, the Texels required about 15# less feed to
produce 60# of gain.
Popularity:
The Texel has become the dominant
terminal-sire breed in Europe. It is currently nearly equal to the Suffolk
in market-share in the United Kingdom and gaining fast. The breed is also
gaining in popularity in Australia and New Zealand as their production
systems have shifted away from primary emphasis on wool to greater emphasis
on lamb meat production. The breed clearly offers an opportunity for the
North American sheep industry to improve the carcass merit of its product as
well.
Temperament:
Texel sheep have excellent temperaments.
They are docile, easy to work around, and have a curious nature. They tend
not to be easily excitable or nervous.
Growth Rate & Size:
Due to the good milk yield of Texel ewes
and the breeds abilities for fast growth, lambs can gain an average of 250
grams per day. At weaning (12 weeks) the average weight of the lambs is 25
kg and their final weight at slaughter (24 weeks) is 44 kg on average.
Texels
are medium sized sheep with ewes weighing 150 - 200 pounds. They are easy
keeping, easy fleshing animals that thrive on grass.
Maternal Advantages:
The length of the breeding season of
mature Texel ewes is nearly 5 months. The Texel ewes comes in heat for the
first time at about 7 months of age. Of importance is the total annual lamb
production of the ewe, a combined effect of prolificacy and lambing
frequency. Selection for litter size has resulted in a high rate of lamb
production. The average litter size has resulted in a high rate of lamb
production. Texel ewes are excellent mothers and provide a high yield of
milk for their lambs. References:
British Sheep and Wool, British Wool
Marketing Board, Oak Mills, Station Rd., Clayton, Bradford. 112 pp.
Mason, I.L. 1996. A World Dictionary of
Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties. Fourth Edition. C.A.B International.
273 pp.
Dr. Gary Onan, Animal & Food Science
Department, University of Wisconsin - River Falls, River Falls WI
Oklahoma State University Animal Science
Department -
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/texel/
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Date last updated
04/09/2008
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Animals should have no
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