Texel sheep

The Texel is a Dutch breed of domestic sheep originally from the island of Texel off the north coast of the Netherlands. It 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.

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. It is reared primarily for meat.

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.