Black Head Sheep Never Need Shearing

Black Head Sheep Never Need Shearing AG WORLD Ag World 20-3-21 "They're an easy-care sheep that divert most of their energy into growing meat instead of wool. In fact, you don't have to shear them at all," says Stephanie Mitcham, Tripoli, Iowa, who, along with her husband Patrick Sexton, raises purebred Dorper sheep, a breed that originated in South Africa and is rapidly becoming popular in the U.S. and Canada. Dorpers were developed 60 years ago in South Africa as a meat breed by crossing the Dorset Horn and Persian Blackhead (a fat-tailed South African sheep). They're now the second most popular breed in that country. They normally have a black head and upper neck with a white body, but approximately 30 percent are all white. Dorpers were introduced to the U.S. 1 1/2 years ago when they were exported as frozen embryos to Alberta, Canada, where they were implanted in recipient ewes. After a 90-day quarantine period, the pregnant Canadian ewes were shipped to the U.S. where they gave birth to 140 Dorper lambs. The seven pregnant ewes that Mitcham and Sexton purchased gave birth to three sets of twins and four single lambs. Of the 10, seven are females and three are males. This win-ter they collected embryos from the ewes and implanted them in ewes of other breeds. They plan to sell some of the resulting lambs and to cross their Dorper rams with some of their own Romanov and Polypay ewes and compare weight gains on pasture. They also make Dorper semen available. "Dorpers have a high lambing rate, the ability to breed all year, outstanding mothering ability, hardiness and many other qualities that make them easy to raise," says Mitcham. "The ewes can produce offspring three times in two years. We expect that they do well on pasture and should fit well into an intensive grazing system with our other sheep breeds. Under range conditions, South African Dorper lambs average 80 to 100 lbs. at 100 days of age. If conditions are good, they may weigh over 100 lbs. at 100 days. Our male Dorpers weighed 100 lbs. at 90 days of age and the females weighed from 80 to 90 lbs." According to Mitcham, Dorpers have well-developed hind quarters and their meat is lean and tastes delicious. "However, the wool isn't of good quality," says Mitcham. Mitcham and Sexton own the only Dorpers in Iowa. Others are in Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, and a few other states. They have formed the American Dorper Sheep Breeder's Society as a nonprofit corporation to promote and improve the Dorper breed. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stephanie Mitcham, 2427 220th St., Tripoli, Iowa 50676 (ph 319 279-3270; fax 319 279-3298).

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