MORE ABOUT DORPERS

They were developed to produce a high-quality lamb that would thrive in the drier areas of South Africa. This makes them ideal for the Australia environment as well. They were introduced into Australia from South Africa in 1996, via embryo transfer.

We notice, they all sleep together in a big mob at night. We think this is a protective instinct as they were bred in South Africa and would need protection against lions. 

WHY DORPERS?

Dorper sheep only want to eat and have babies. They are a fast growing, meat producing sheep that reach maturity at a young age. They have an excellent grass to meat conversion meaning they have small bones for the amount of meat on them giving a greater meat to bone ratio. This is ideal for the customer. 

They have high fertility rates and a great maternal instinct.  Many twins are born, so lambing percentages above 150% are not uncommon. They are polyoestrous which means they can mate at any time of the year. Their lambs are very mobile at birth and along with the mothers being good milk producers, they have high survival rates.

They are non-selective grazers which means they will eat all grasses and bushes and not just the ones they like. They also love to browse and they love eating bushes as well as grasses to balance their diet. 

They are covered with a light coat of hair that sheds, so no shearing is required making them easy to care for. They also have a natural skin pigmentation which protects them from skin cancers.

Domville Dorper lambs are fed on natural grasses and pastures which gives them a unique and different flavour to feed-lot lambs. 

They have an even distribution of a thin layer of fat compared to other meat breeds.  This compliments their heavy weight muscular body. They are barrel shaped giving them good length, width and depth or in other words they have excellent carcass conformation.