how do they compare with texels may I ask? what are the differances? advantages disadvantages?
Well, we have used both and still have both.
Charollais probably better for easy lambing, although we're trying a Dutch Texel (smaller shoulders, shorter legs) this year so I'll report back on how they compare.
Texel better for lambs having some wool on - which matters up here in the far north west of England!
I think Charollais is a sweeter meat, more succulent and tasty. Texel is very tender but in our opinion not as tasty.
We sell lambs both to our local butcher and through agents to the supermarkets' abattoirs. Our butcher prefers Texel, he is happy with the level of fat covering on these and is less comfortable with the very very lean Charollais meat. The supermarkets' abattoirs grade all our lambs very well; we don't think there is much difference in conformation and therefore the price we get for either.
There's no question the Charollais lambs fatten quicker - be aware they may weigh more than you expect from looking at their size as they are so solid! If you have plenty of grass and don't feed cake this won't matter so much, but if you use cake to finish lambs and/or feed lactating ewes it will make a difference. Also, lamb prices tend to drop away later in the season so the earlier they finish the more pence per kilo you should get. If you're not lambing till April this won't have a huge impact on you, I suspect, but we start lambing in February and will get quite a few lambs away while the prices are still higher.
Our Charollais ewe lambs that we've kept on for breeding have inherited their dad's laid-back temperament - they are very easy to manage. Texels aren't hard but ours (and their offspring) are definitely less laid back than the Charollais. (Having said which I did have a very laid-back, friendly Texel on my previous farm, and all his daughters are very friendly too.)
Neither breed has particularly good feet, I'm afraid. On our cold wet ground we will need to attend to a significant proportion of feet, sadly.
You might wonder why we continue to use Texels when we clearly rate the Charollais so highly.
Firstly, we have been able to buy good Texel tups for quite a bit less than we've paid for the Charollais. I think this is just supply and demand - there are more people breeding Texels as terminal sires and up here there is a lot more choice of perfectly good enough Texel tups than there are Charollais.
Secondly, we value our local butcher's custom and he prefers Texel.
Thirdly, having had bad experiences with breeding pure in the past, BH finds it best to have all breeding females (cattle included) be no more than 3/4 of the same meat breed. So, for instance, we have put some of our half-Charollais girls to another Charollais, but now the girls from that mating need a different breed on them.
