In the future, when the Canadian sheep farming industry looks back on this past week, it may see it as a pivotal time. A number of pure Dutch Texel lambs were born near Denfield on the Coldstream Ranch belonging to Mels and Ruthanne van der Laan. At the time of writing, they had eight Dutch Texel lambs already born and seven more on the way.
     Dutch Texels are a short, stocky breed of sheep that originated on the island of Texel, north of Holland. They are very lean, producing more meat for less feed than existing Canadian breeds, making them a far more efficient alternative for sheep farmers.
     Mr. van der Laan said, as far as he knows, these are the only pure Dutch Texel lambs born in southwestern Ontario.
     They were produced from embryos imported from Holland, which were implanted in Canadian bred sheep. The embryos can be implanted in any year-round breeding sheep, said Mr. van der Laan.
     The Dutch Texels are an efficient breed because they are very lean, producing a high dress-out weight, which refers to the amount of dressed meat in relation to the total weight of the animal.
     Dutch Texels produce about a 54 percent dress-out weight compared to only about 48-50 percent for Canadian breeds.
     Texels in Holland have reached as high as a 58 percent under controlled conditions.
     This is mainly due to the fact that the Dutch Texels have little fat and are double muscled, much like Belgian Blue cattle.
     In addition, the Dutch Texels also produce a very lustrous wool, the van der Laans report.
     They also say the Dutch Texels have a good temperament and are easy to manage.
     They are a rugged breed and have no more trouble lambing than Canadian sheep, said Mr. van der Laan.
     The average birthweight of the lambs is 8-10 pounds, with some weighing in at over 12 pounds, he said.
     The van der Laans are enthusiastic about their newly arrived lambs, and say they could change the outlook for Canadian sheep farming.
     Currently, only about 45 percent of lamb eaten in Ontario is produced here. The rest comes mainly from New Zealand and Australia.