Our farm is located one half hour northwest of London, Ontario Canada on the road to Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan, USA.
Cold Stream the Texel Specialists
The original ancestors of Texel came from a group of white-faced, short-tails sheep
that populated the coast of western Europe. In the early 1600 hundreds, settlers
brought Texel sheep to the America's but the animals were wipe out by bears and
wolves etc.
On the island of Texel, hencefore its' name DUTCH TEXEL. Texel sheep producers,
wanting to compete in the British market, employed a breed inspector to assist in
maintaining the breed's purity and to foster the breeding of animals with the meat
characteristics. Texels were crossed with British longwool breeds to improve their
productivity: then these crosses were interbred to establish the modern TEXEL breed.
In Holland, Texel sheep make up the greater part of the Dutch flock. At first
exported to France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, Texels have been established
throughout Europe and Scandinavia, some of the former Soviet countries, Turkey,
South America and most recently in the New Zealand, Australia, United States and
Canada.
These white-faced sheep have faces and legs free of wool and both sexes are
hornless. Texel meat is very lean, which is a benefit in today's market. Mainly
breed for meat, Texel wool should not be overlooked by spinners in search of bulky
resilient, hard-wearing yarns.
Contact Us Today
Fleece Characteristics
- weight range from 4lbs to 8lbs
- fiber diameter is 46s to 56s (34 to 26 Microns) Marion tells me the
diameter and microns are much better than this statement gives
- staple length varies between 31/2 and 6 inches (8 and 15cm)
- wool is bulkier than that of most longwool breeds - that is, it has
more resilience and loft
The fleece I choose to enter at the Royal 98 with Marions' help, was fine
and lots of bounce and a very long staple and excellent crimp - plus it had a
luster or shine to it - feed back from the company who purchased my fleece at
auction - she had only a sample that she spun and found it quite easy to
manage ( e-mail) and the rest she sold to spinners in Eastern Ontario, she did
however put in an order for more DUTCH TEXEL fleece in the fall.
Texel does not felt readily. I, Ruthanne tried felting Texel wool at the
Western Fair - it did felt - but took much longer to form bracelets, rings and
button balls. The school kids really enjoyed the hands on demonstrations.
From my own experience my fleece does not like the drum carder but prefers the
flick carder, I did take a chunk and spun right from the fleece.
----------------------------------
April 2012
Kikkert Sheep Farm