Dorper Sheep

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Fourofakind

Member

Livestock Farmer

• Sep 27, 2021

• #1

Hey everyone, anyone here breed or know a bit about Dorper sheep? Fancy a few but not heard much about them.

Thanks in advance

 

TexelBen

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

North Yorkshire

• Sep 27, 2021

• #2

I'm sure some more knowledgeable people than we will be along, but as far as I know they suffer from bad feet in our wet climate and don't shed fully, they leave a rug on their backs.

 

Muddyroads

Member

NFFN Member

Location

Exeter, Devon

• Sep 27, 2021

• #3

We have a couple of Dorper rams that we put on our Dorset ewe lambs. We like them for a number of reasons but their feet really are their downfall. The guy we got rams from assures me that this is being genetically improved but I haven’t seen the evidence yet.

 

Paddington

Member

Location

Soggy Shropshire

• Sep 27, 2021

• #4

I was once told by a Dorper owner at Builth that Dorpers were resistant to bluetongue, if that helps.

 

Tim W

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

Wiltshire

• Sep 27, 2021

• #5

Lovely big arses
Terrible feet
Poor shedders

 

Woolless

Member

Location

Berwickshire, Scottish Borders

• Sep 27, 2021

• #6

Fourofakind said:

Hey everyone, anyone here breed or know a bit about Dorper sheep? Fancy a few but not heard much about them.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Feet and moderate wool-shedding ability are cast up repeatedly against them. However, I am sure that was of little concern to the vendors who recently averaged £800+ for ewe lambs at a sale in Carlisle.

If it's wool shedding that you want, Easycares or Exlanas would be a better bet.

 

S

sheepwise

Member

Location

SW Scotland

• Sep 27, 2021

• #7

Fourofakind said:

Hey everyone, anyone here breed or know a bit about Dorper sheep? Fancy a few but not heard much about them.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Going by sale at Carlisle recently, you’ll need deep pockets!

 

D

dunk999

Member

• Sep 27, 2021

• #8

I had 12 ewes 11 years ago even after footvaxing they were consistently lame. I had them on a bare piece of almost hill ground that seemed to help but as soon as they even sniffed green grass the feet heated up again. Oh and had to clip rugs off their backs also.

 

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delilah

Member

• Sep 27, 2021

• #9

They must be good eating as there is an abattoir with a shop near us that favours them.

 

Muddyroads

Member

NFFN Member

Location

Exeter, Devon

• Sep 27, 2021

• #10

Usually in the top 3 in antipodean taste tests as I understand it. Certainly don’t get any complaints about our crosses.

 

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Frank-the-Wool

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

East Sussex

• Sep 27, 2021

• #11

Paddington said:

I was once told by a Dorper owner at Builth that Dorpers were resistant to bluetongue, if that helps.

Click to expand...

They may be resistant to one of the 20 plus strains of Bluetongue but not to all of them.

They do tend to run to fat if on a good diet.

 

unlacedgecko

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

Fife

• Sep 27, 2021

• #12

Excellent base for composites in Australia. Big drive over there, with one individual seeking a fully integrated supply chain as a premium brand.


Small holder shite in the UK.

 

dogjon

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

Western Oregon

• Sep 28, 2021

• #13

Terrible feet, great carcass, high quality taste test award winning meat and easy keepers on grass. My experience with using them to turn wool sheep into shedders is that it will take several generations and you will still have the Dorper rug. I have heard a sensible defense from a Dorper breeder in that the rug does give them some protection from the sun and weather. We do not have a problem with flystrike in clean dry wool on the back here but I dont think that is true in all parts of the world.