Texel sheep
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{{Short description|Dutch breed of sheep}}
{{Infobox sheep breed
| name = Texel
| image = Texelschafe 2003 (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| status = {{ubl|FAO (2007): not at risk{{r|barb|p=148}}|DAD-IS (2023): not at risk{{r|dad}}}}
| altname = {{ubl|Texelaar|Texelse|Improved Texel|Verbeterde Texelse}}
| country = Netherlands
| distribution =
| standard =
| use = meat
| maleweight = average 95 kg{{r|dad}}
| femaleweight = average 75 kg{{r|dad}}
| maleheight = average 70 cm{{r|dad}}
| femaleheight = average 68 cm{{r|dad}}
| skincolour =
| type =
| woolcolour = white
| facecolour = white
| horns = polled
| note =
}}
File:Texel ewe and twin lambs - geograph.org.uk - 767717.jpg in Norfolk]]
The Texel is a Dutch breed of domestic sheep originally from the island of Texel.
{{cite web
|url = http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/texel/index.htm
|publisher = Oklahoma State University, De. of Animal Science
|title = Texel
|access-date = 4 May 2009
|work = Breeds of Livestock
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091224201255/http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/texel/index.htm
|archive-date = 24 December 2009
}} It is a heavy and muscular sheep, and produces a lean meat carcass. It is polled, clean-faced and clean-legged, with white face and wool. The fibre diameter of the wool averages about {{val|32|u=μ}}, with a staple length of {{val|8|–|15|u=cm}}; it is used mainly for knitting and hosiery wools.{{r|cabi|p=932}}
The Texel is distributed in approximately thirty-five countries in Europe, the Americas and Oceania, with estimated populations of over 5000 head in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.{{r|dad2}}
History
The Texel sheep originated on the island of Texel, the largest of the Wadden Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands. The exact origin of the breed is unknown although it is thought to be a cross of the original Texel sheep with multiple English breeds. It was slowly bred into a meat breed of outstanding carcass quality. It is now one of the most common meat breeds in the Netherlands, making up seventy percent of the national flock.
= United Kingdom =
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.{{r|dad3}} It is larger and heavier than the original Dutch stock, with weights to {{val|120|u=kg}} for rams and {{val|85|u=kg}} for ewes. It is the most numerous British breed, with a population in the early twenty-first century of some {{val|350000}} ewes.{{r|cabi|p=932}} Some of the sheep are valuable: a ram lamb was sold in Lanark in 2009 for £{{val|231,000}}, and in 2020 another was auctioned for almost £{{val|368,000}}.{{r|bbc|bbc2}}
=Peru=
In 1951, Texel sheep breeder and exporter Herman J. Keijser of Den Burg exported 100 Texel ewes and rams to Peru on the cargo ship Baarn, where their stocks were used for both meat and wool.
Characteristics
{{cite web
|url=http://www.sheep101.info/breedsT-V.html#Texel
|work=Sheep Breeds - St-U
|title=Texel
|publisher=Sheep101.info
|access-date=4 May 2009}}
A mutation in the 3' UTR of the myostatin gene in Texel sheep creates target sites for the microRNAs miR-1 and miR-206. This is likely to be the genetic cause of the muscular phenotype of this breed of sheep.{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/ng1810 |vauthors=Clop A, Marcq F, Takeda H, Pirottin D, Tordoir X, Bibé B, Bouix J, Caiment F, Elsen JM, Eychenne F, Larzul C, Laville E, Meish F, Milenkovic D, Tobin J, Charlier C, Georges M |title=A mutation creating a potential illegitimate microRNA target site in the myostatin gene affects muscularity in sheep. |journal=Nat Genet |volume=38 |issue=7 |pages=813–8 |year=2006 |pmid=16751773|s2cid=39767621 }}
See also
References
{{reflist|refs=
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External links
{{commons category|Texel (sheep)}}
- [http://www.texel.org.au/ AustralianTexel Stud Breeders Association]
- [http://www.texel.co.uk/ British Texel Sheep Society]
- [http://www.blue-texel-sheep.com/workspace/pdfs/btss-flock-book-2016.pdf Blue Texel Sheep Society 2016 Flockbook]
Category:Sheep breeds originating in the Netherlands
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