Ultrasound Scanning
Ultrasound scanning is an optional service carried out by technicians approved by AHDB-Signet. Members need to book with a service provider directly for them to come out on farm and collect muscle and fat depth data from your lambs using an ultrasound scanner.
Plan ahead and book early, ultrasound scanning is recommended to be completed when the lamb group weigh between 35-55kg.
As this is an optional service, the fees vary between providers, please contact your scanning technician for further information on the details below.
All data are returned to the Society for upload to iTexel by Society staff.
| Area | Scanner name and contact details | ||
| Midlands, East and Central England, Southeast and Central Southern England | Stuart Friswell | sfscanning@outlook.com | 07789 113137 |
| Wales, Northwest England, Northeast England, Southwest England | Innovis | enquiries@innovis.org.uk | 01970 828 236 |
| Scotland | May Millar | maymillarscanning@gmail.com | 07590 199 770 |
| Northern Ireland | William Tait | wttait37@gmail.com | 07833 968 417 |
Scanning notes
If you have submitted your lambing data in plenty of time, the technician will have received an electronic file of your flock. As each lamb is scanned the identity and sex is cross-checked.
- Ensure the lambs are heavy enough to scan, data from lambs below 23kg will be excluded from the evaluation.
- Rear lambs in as large a contemporary group as possible. Recording small numbers of lambs or having them evaluated within several small groups means elite lambs are less likely to stand out. If small groups must be used ensure the scanner is aware of them.
- Identify any different management groups accurately.
- Groups that have had different treatment – such as those receiving veterinary medication due to ill health or hand-reared for example
- Early and late lambing groups may need scanning at different dates.
- Show teams may have been fed differently, you must inform your scanner to ensure that the data are recorded correctly.
CT Scanning
CT scanning is an optional service that allows extremely accurate predictions of muscle, bone and fat quantities in live lamb carcasses, helping breeders to identify their highest meat-yielding rams.
Lambs must be birth notified to ensure eligibility and the Society pays to genotype all CT scanned lambs, saving members the genotyping fee (see current fee sheet here). This provides Microphthalmia, Scrapie and Maedi-Visna genotypes, parentage verification and improves the accuracy of all breeding values and Indexes; adding value for members who choose to CT scan lambs.
The Society also subsidise all Texel lambs that are CT scanned by £35, this commitment supports members, the Society’s Breed Development Strategy and helps to underpin the breed’s genomic reference population.
The levy bodies AHDB, QMS and HCC no longer provide CT scanning subsidies to Texel breeders.
| Breeder location | CT fee per lamb | Levy support | Society support | Breeder fee per lamb |
| Scotland | £112 | QMS: NONE | £35 | £77.00 |
| Wales | £196 | HCC: NONE | £35 | £161.00 |
| England | £196 | AHDB: NONE | £35 | £161.00 |
SRUC are offering CT scanning at the sites and dates listed below. Please select a scanning date / location that allows your lambs to be as close to the recommended 40kg scanning weight as possible. SRUC policy is that only Scottish lambs can be scanned in Scotland due to current concerns with Blue Tongue Virus.
Contact Kirsty McLean or John Gordon at SRUC for further details and to book your animals in on 0131 535 3251 or CTUnit@sruc.ac.uk
| Location | Scan dates | Booking deadline |
| Edinburgh | 29th June | 29th May |
| Stratford-upon-Avon | 2nd-3rd July | 5th June |
| Welshpool | 13th-14th August | 17th July |
| Edinburgh | 18th September | TBC |
The Society deduct the £35 Society subsidy and invoice the net amount to the member (VAT applies at the standard rate).
For more information, see SRUC’s CT scanning page here
Genotyping
The Society provide a genotyping service through Neogen, our partner laboratory using a 50K SNP chip. Once complete, the results are automatically added to the monthly evaluation and uploaded to iTexel
What is genotyping?
Genotyping is the process of determining specific genetic variations (genotypes) in an animal’s DNA.
What is a 50K SNP chip?
A 50K SNP chip is a high-throughput genotyping tool used to analyse approximately 50,000 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) across an animal’s genome. It is a cost-effective method for identifying genetic variation that can be used to identify specific traits, e.g. Microphthalmia, and for performing genomic selection in livestock.
A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is a common genetic variation occurring when a single nucleotide (A, C, G or T) in the DNA sequence differs between individuals. Occurring roughly every 1,000 nucleotides, they can act as markers for different traits.
How do I order a kit?
Through the DNA kit page on iTexel (see the instruction video here) or the instructions below:
- Click on the DNA kit button
- Choose the reason at the top of the screen, options are:
- Ram registration – will search all live males in the flock book that aren’t already registered and haven’t already had a kit requested.
- DNA Profiling – will only search live animals in your flock
- Parentage – will only search live animals in your flock
- Click on + Add Ram or + Add Animal
- Type in the flock book number of the animal you want a kit for (e.g. might start TXL26…)
- Click on the animal in the dropdown list
- If you’re requesting a kit for a ram, name him if he hasn’t already been named
- Upload your proof of purchase (required for bought-in rams only)
- Click on Send Kit Request (will be a red colour)
- Wait for our email receipt and the kit to arrive
Once this kit arrives, take the sample and return it in the reply-paid envelope. You will receive an email receipt when the sample arrives in the office and emails from iTexel as the sample is processed and results returned.
If you selected Ram Registration as the reason for the sample, the ram will be automatically registered when the results are returned.
How much does it cost?
The current genotyping fees are listed on the Society’s fees sheet that’s available here. Genotyping fees include the swab, all postage costs and the upload of results into the evaluation and to iTexel.
What information do I receive?
Each sample has results provided for Scrapie, Microphthalmia and MV genotypes through the Gene-tex page on iTexel. The information is automatically published on the public pages of iTexel and members can choose to publish this in catalogues too by ticking ‘Publish this’ on the Gene-tex page.
For animals born from 2024-onwards, parentage checks are also completed where parental DNA samples are available. In practice this means that most sires are now confirmed and dams are too in some cases.
The genotype information is also included in the evaluation, this improves the accuracy of breeding values and Indexes, giving increased confidence in the figures provided.
How long does it take?
Samples can take up to eight-weeks from receipt in the office, though the majority are returned in less time than this.