Cedar View Dorpers

Why Dorpers

Beautiful Appearance
· Well Proportioned
· Excellent Conformation
· Have black head and white body (Dorper) or are completely white (White Dorper)
· Thickly muscled hind quarters
· Nice size - mature ewes average 210 pounds Superb Lamb Carcasses
· Dorper sheep usually win the South African carcass competitions
· In South Africa, 90% of Dorper lambs grade "Super", equivalent to USDA Choice Grade
· South African Dorper lambs weigh 80 - 100 lb or more at 100 days of age.
· Heavily muscled hind quarters
· Meat is lean Shearing Unnecessary
· Fleeces, which are a hair/wool mix, are shed once a year
· Fleece staple length is short
· More meat, less wool!
· Dorper hides command top prices in South Africa Extremely Hardy and Adaptable
· Nonselective grazers
· Internal and external parasite tolerance
· Long lived
· Easy keepers so maintenance costs are low
· Thrive in marginal conditions
· Lambs are very vigorous at birth so lamb mortality is low
· Do well in a variety of climates - arid, wet, hot and cold
· Top performance under extensive or intensive conditions

    Dorpers have been in Canada since 1996.

Very fertile and early maturing
· Rams may breed as early as 100 days
· Breed year round
· 3 lamb crops in 2 years can be readily achieved
· 150 - 180 plus% lamb crops in South Africa (2.25 - 2.7 plus lambs/year)
.Wonderful mothers
· Heavy milking with great udder conformation
· Easy lambers (lambs are well proportioned at birth with smaller heads.
Muscling begins to develop by 2 - 3 weeks of age)
· Calm

Mutton Production: The Dorper is primarily a mutton sheep and meets these requirements exceptionally well. The Dorper has a long breeding season which is not seasonally limited. A good manager can organize his program so that lambs can be dropped at any time of the year. The breed is fertile and the percentage of ewes that become pregnant in one mating season is relatively high. Lambing intervals can be eight months. Consequently under good forage conditions and with good management the Dorper ewe can lamb three times in two years. The Dorper lamb grows rapidly and attains a high weaning weight, which again is an economically important characteristic in the breeding of mutton sheep. The Dorper lamb can reach a live weight of about 36 kg at the age of 3- 4 months. This ensures a high quality carcass of approximately 16 kg. This is associated with the inherent growth potential of the Dorper lamb and its ability to graze at an early age. The Dorper is well adapted to a variety of climatic and grazing conditions. Originally this breed was developed for the more arid areas of the Republic but today they are widely spread throughout all the provinces. The Dorper does well in various range and feeding conditions and reacts very favorably under intensive feeding conditions. The Dorper skin is the most sought after sheepskin in the world and is marketed under the name of Cape Glovers. The skin comprises a high percentage of the income (20%) of the total carcass value.

                           RAM CVD123U born June 30,2008  Sire CVD43S  Dam CVD46R

                           Pictured at 2 months old, 60 day weight was 85lbs, and pictured at 2 years old currently weighs 250lbs.
                           Feed includes grass and 1/2 pound of barley per day.

                                               CVD86Y  100 day weight 98 pounds, this is a Domestic purebred registered Dorper Ram, born June 2011.

                                               He has perfect coloring on his head, short fleece with a good mix of hair and wool, and good feet.

                                                                                Pictured at 4 months old and 9 months old.

Canadian Dorper Sheep Association

Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency

Canadian Sheep Federation