The Blue Texel, , is a Dutch breed or strain of meat sheep. It is a colour variety of the Texel, which originates on the island of Texel in the Wadden Sea. A flock-book for blue sheep within the Texel breed was started in 1983, and a breed society was formed in that year.

History

The Texel originates on the island of Texel in the Wadden Sea. Blue-woolled lambs were sometimes born in Texel flocks, but little attention was paid to them until the 1970s, when deliberate breeding for blue colour began, and some blue flocks were established. A flock-book for blue sheep within the Texel breed was started in 1983, and a breed society – the – was formed in that year by seven breeders; this later became the .

By 2008–2009 numbers had risen to about head; in 2022 the total population was estimated at , with registered breeding ewes and 507 active rams. Its conservation status was listed by the FAO as 'not at risk' in 2007; in 2026 it was listed in DAD-IS as 'vulnerable/at risk'.

Outside Holland, the Blue Texel is reported by Belgium, Germany and Scotland.

References

Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. . Archived 23 June 2020.

Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. .

Breed data sheet: Blauwe Texelaar / Netherlands (Kingdom of the) (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed March 2026.

Transboundary breed: Blue Texel. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed March 2026.

Geschiedenis (in Dutch). Meerlo: Stamboek Blauwe Texelaars. Archived 16 December 2025.