The Breed Standard is used, not only for judging, but also applies to a good sheep to be used to produce good representative progeny.

Teeswater Sheep Description

Head

Good Broad, Clean head with well developed jaw.
Long Brown nose.
Short Broad teeth meeting the pad.
Low set ears and bright eyes with plenty of width.

Carcase

Long drawn with plenty of width, deep ribs and good hindquarters.

Legs

Straight and well apart with plenty of bone.
Up on the pasterns with sound feet.
Colour broken white and brown.
Leg in each corner.

Wool

Good, clean open lustre staple, not too strong and of medium length, with no black fibres.
Uniform over the whole fleece. This should be fine, long-stapled lustre wool, with no dark fibres in the fleece.
it should be uniform in texture over the whole body.

Style

Upstanding, head held high.
Parades well.
Good general appearance.

Key Characteristics

Size - Large, Ewes 90kg, Rams 120kg
Uses - Crossing Sire, specialist Wool productions
Hardy - Fairly Hardy and can cope with most conditions
Lambing % - Very prolific - 200%
Meat - Lean sheep with well developed hindquarters
Wool - Is in great demand for worsted suiting, knitting wools, as well as blending with other fibres. Staple length 20-30cm, Fleece weight 4 - 8kgs.
Fleeces are in great demand by hand spinners.

Carcase Evaluation/Measurement
When looking at a sheep it is not possible with accuracy to know the amount of lean meat in the carcase. By handling it may be possible to make a judgement of fat cover but this is all it does, it does not give a measurement of the depth of fat.
The amount of eye muscle lean meat in the "chop" area is a good indication of the leanness of the carcase, the back fat depth and indication of the fat of the sheep. Large eye muscle reading and small back fat means a superior carcase, in the eyes of the meat purchasing public.
The Carcase Evaluation/Measurement service is not aimed at providing a comparison with other breeds or other flocks with the Teeswaters.
After some years of measurement within a flock, it will give an indication of carcase changes - hopefully and improvement, and the degree to which the desirable traits in a carcase are present in particular bloodlines.
General confirmation, fleece, longevity are also still important. the method of measurement is straight forward, with the sheep restrained, stood up, probe on back, direct reading available to the operator.