Texel sheep, (15)

Texel sheep are imported regularly to Danmark from the Netherlands where the origins of the breed are. The sheep are white, polled with long/intermedate tails and uniform medium wool with around 3.5 kg greasy fleece weight.  The wool is used for machine knitting and hand knitting yarn and the pelts for nappa leather. Adult wither height is 75 cm for males and 66 cm for females and the live weight is 100 kg and 80 kg for males and females respectively. The mean litter size is 1.5 lambs at birth and 1.34 lambs weaned.  The breed is known for excellent growth and good muscling.  Mean carcass weight of lambs is 23.2 kg when slaughtered at the age of 5-6 months. The largest part of the carcasses falls into grades U and R in the EUROP classification system.  The population of Texel sheep in Denmark is around 3000 sheep. The breed was included in the project as a reference to other European meat type sheep.

Local name: Texel
References: Torkild Liboriussen, Genressourceudvalget, Afd. for Husdyravl og Genetik, Danmarks JordbrugsForskning, Forskningscenter Foulum
Postboks 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Danmark.
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Created by ThEP and EE Edited by Emma Eythorsdottir for the North SheD group.
Agricultural Research Institute of Iceland.