About Swifter Sheep

Swifter sheep are a new, highly productive sheep breed, which was developed in the 1970s by the Agricultural University in Wageningen, the Netherlands, to increase the productivity of the Dutch sheep stock. Swifters are used as dams for slaughter lambs.

Swifter sheep were developed by crossing Texel and Flemish sheep. To obtain excellent, fast-growing lambs for slaughter, the Swifter ewe is tupped by a ram for slaughter lamb production: the Charollais, the Suffolk, or the Texel. Pedigree Swifters produce 2.5 lambs per lambing on average. 80% of ewes give birth to two or more lambs in their first year. Births are almost always without problems.