Texel Ram #513

Somehow I missed posting photos of our new Texel ram.  We got him this fall to use on some of the BFL ewes for butcher's lambs.  Texels have excellent meat carcass traits, and I wanted to see if I could use hybrid vigor to get faster growing lambs on less grain and more grass.  I'm anxious to see how these lambs perform, and likely will end up keeping some of the ewe lambs for breeding.  They'd be backward mules; normally a BFL ram is put to another breed ewe to produce the classic mule.

The wool on a Texel is similar to a cheviot - very white, low grease, medium grade, and fairly harsh to the touch.  Lots of spring and loft, so does not felt well, but makes great padding since it resists matting.  Also long wearing for rugs and such.