Texel sheep

History

The Texel originated on the island of Texel, the largest of the Wadden Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands. The original sheep of the island were relatively long-legged animals of polder or marshland type, not dissimilar to the Fries Melkschaap. From the early years of the nineteenth century, these were systematically cross-bred with imported British stock of various breeds – among them the Border Leicester, the Leicester Longwool, the Lincoln Longwool and the Wensleydale – with the aim of improving meat production qualities. A herd-book was established in 1909.

In the twenty-first century the Texel constitutes approximately 70% of all meat sheep in the Netherlands. A number of other breeds or sub-types derive from it. These include the Blue Texel, a colour variant with breed status; the British Texel, developed in Scotland in the latter twentieth century; the French Texel, developed in France from about 1930; and the Beltex and Swifter breeds.

Stock imported from France by the Animal Breeding Research Organisation in Scotland in 1970 was cross-bred with a variety of British breeds including the Border Leicester, Hampshire Down, Leicester, Lincoln and Southdown, leading to the development of the British Texel; a herd-book was started in 1972. It is larger and heavier than the original Dutch stock, with weights to for rams and for ewes. It is the most numerous British breed, with a population in the early twenty-first century of some ewes. Some of the sheep are valuable: a ram lamb was sold in Lanark in 2009 for £, and in 2020 another was auctioned for almost £.

Characteristics

The Texel is a heavy and muscular sheep, often exhibiting extreme muscular hypertrophy, and tends to produce leaner lambs than some other breeds. It is polled, clean-faced and clean-legged, with white face and wool. Average body weights are approximately for rams and about for ewes; average heights at the withers are about and respectively.

A mutation in the 3' UTR of the myostatin gene in Texel sheep, which creates target sites for the microRNAs miR-1 and miR-206, may be the cause of the muscular hypertrophy seen in the breed.

Use

The Texel is reared primarily for lamb's meat, often by use as a terminal sire.

Fleece weights are usually in the range . The fibre diameter averages about (Bradford Count 46s–56s), with a staple length of ; the wool is used mainly to make yarns for knitting and for hosiery.

Gallery

File:Texel 2009 03 074 (cropped).jpg|Ewe with lamb on Texel File:Texelschafe grasen in der Abendsonne (Texel, 2017).jpg|On the island of Texel File:Texel ewe and twin lambs - geograph.org.uk - 767717.jpg|British Texel ewe with twin lambs in Norfolk

References

References

1. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn. 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
2. [s.n.] (28 August 2009). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8226054.stm £231,000 sheep sets price record]. ''BBC News'': Scotland. Accessed January 2025.
3. [s.n.] (28 August 2020). [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-53946252 World's most expensive sheep sold for £368,000]. ''BBC News''. Accessed January 2025.
4. 9781780647944.
5. [https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ext-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=NLD&specie=Sheep&breed=Texelaar Breed data sheet: Texelaar / Netherlands (Sheep)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed February 2023.
6. [https://dadis-transboundary-ext-ws.web.app/?species=Sheep&transboundary=Texel&lang=en Transboundary breed: Texel]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed February 2023.
7. [https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=GBR&specie=Sheep&breed=British%20Texel&external=1&lang=en Breed data sheet: British Texel / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Sheep)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed January 2025.
8. Alex Clop, Fabienne Marcq, Haruko Takeda, Dimitri Pirottin, Xavier Tordoir, Bernard Bibé, Jacques Bouix, Florian Caiment, Jean-Michel Elsen, Francis Eychenne, Catherine Larzul, Elisabeth Laville, Françoise Meish, Dragan Milenkovic, James Tobin, Carole Charlier, Michel Georges (2006). [https://www.nature.com/articles/ng1810 A mutation creating a potential illegitimate microRNA target site in the myostatin gene affects muscularity in sheep], letter. ''Nature Genetics''. '''38''' (2006): 813–818. {{doi. 10.1038/ng1810.