The Irish Blue Texel Sheep Society will stage its first ever open day this weekend (Saturday, July 22) in Johnstown, Co. Westmeath.
The open day is being held on the farm of Francis and Jennifer Donohoe, where visitors can engage with the society as part of a day of demonstrations, discussions and displays of the sheep breed.
Philip Crowe, who set up the society and is now secretary of the Irish Blue Texel Sheep Society, told Agriland that it will be a great opportunity to view an exceptional herd.
He said: “They’ll be able to view the prize-winning Johnstown herd of Francis and Jennifer Donohoe”.
The success of the Donohoe Blue Texel herd is reflected in their performance at the national show, where Crowe said they “won the male champion and the female champion”.
Visitors can also see a variety of commercial cross bred Blue Texel lambs, while also being able to attend a demonstration on how to trim Blue Texel sheep for showing.
Discussions on the breeds and genotyping will take place at the open day, as well as a stock judging competition.
Blue Texel characteristics
Crowe was asked by Agriland why the Blue Texel would appeal to someone looking to get involved with the breed.
“The breed is easy lambing and they have excellent carcass quality at killout. They are killing out 4-5% better than other breeds.
“They are a medium-sized breed, and a lot of Blue Texel pedigree ewes are weaning twin lambs heavier than themselves which is something that is a great advantage to the breed.
“A pedigree Blue Texel ewe is 70-75kg and she’s weaning two lambs more than that,” he added.
“That’s a major selling point going forward, that ewe size isn’t heavy, isn’t generating a lot of carbon, but she’s producing lots.”
Crowe is speaking from experience, as he first brought the breed into his farm back in 2014, and from then on has been successfully breeding them.
He said: “The Donohoes bought their first Blue Texel off me in 2018.
“For instance, the ram lamb that they won the All-Ireland with, goes back to the original sheep bought by me.”