The Irish Blue Texel Sheep Society held its open day on Saturday 10 May on the farm of Nigel Hogan Rathnashannagh, Co Carlow, the home of the Diamond Blue Texel and Dassenkop flock. A crowd of 80 sheep enthusiasts attended on the day where they were treated to fine weather and a fantastic display of sheep.

On display was Hogan’s flock of 200 commercial ewes mainly Borris type ewes and Dassenkop x Borris ewes with Blue Texel and Dassenkop sired lambs at foot. Also on display was Hogan’s 2025-born Blue Texel and Dassenkop lambs.

Flock performance since using Blue Texel and Dassenkop genetics has been very impressive with 85% of the 2024 crop of lambs killing out as U grade and + 3 for fat cover with an average kill out of 53%.

Joe O’Reilly of Reilly’s Butchers Waterford, spoke about the suitability of the Blue Texel breed to produce quality lambs to sell through his shop.

This was followed by a trimming demo from Nigel Hogan and a talk about breed origins and traits from breed secretary Philip Crowe. There was also a nutrition talk from Darragh Healy from Natural Nutrition.