Another aspect of the breed to improve upon is the prolificacy. We should select for ewes that regularly produce twins, this for two reasons: one because twins are smaller at birth making for easier lambings, second to improve profitability so that in years of low ram demand you can still turn a profit with meat sales. We have had a few ewes that gave us triplets more than once and are working on improvig the prolificity of our Texels by keeping mostly twins for breeding and although it is a trait of low heritability it is important to work on it.

We keep in mind that sheep breeding, although a hobby that has become a passion, serves no purpose if we forget that ultimately the consumer is the final judge of our product. We have to breed sheep that help the commercial producer make a living by putting out the best possible product at the lesser cost with the best quality. The Texel does just that: it adds high quality meat on the existing maternal breeds, meat that is tender and with less losses from fat and bone. Their high conversion rate on lower quality forage helps keep the costs down.