The Dorper Breed

Economical	The most important economic factor is the Dorper’s excellent ability to convert feed into meat, and quickly! The breed also sheds naturally, eliminating the need for costly shearing.
Meat production	Purebred Dorper rams reach a liveweight of 90-120 kg and ewes 50-80kg. The Dorper carcass has excellent fat distribution and a mild taste, unlike many other breeds.
Adaptable	The breed was originally developed in the hot arid climate of South Africa, but has since been introduced to every corner of the globe. The Dorper has been proven to thrive in even the harshest conditions.
Hardy	One of its greatest attributes: its resistance to disease. They still require care and attention, but they are much more disease resistant than other breeds. Lambs are often up and running around within minutes of being born!
Fertile	The Dorper is one of the most fertile of the sheep breeds, with potential lambing intervals of only 8 months. Lambing percentages in excess of 150% (2.25 lambs per annum) are possible and 100% is feasible for most areas. Short lambing intervals have various advantages, of which greater selection possibilities and the sale of larger numbers of lambs are the most important.
Good mothering ability	The Dorper ewe is a very good mother and protective of her young. While single births are fairly common with first-time mothers, twins are most common for the breed, with the occasional triplets. Lambs are extremely mobile at birth and survival rates are high. Ewes produce a large quantity of milk, aiding lamb survival and early growth.
Good grazing habits	They are non-selective grazers. Experience so far suggests that Dorpers can adapt to most grazing conditions. There is evidence that they prefer fibre to grains and they respond well to good quality hay. Purebred lambs will start to graze in the first few days after birth. F1 lambs after about two weeks. The Dorper can be advantageously incorporated into under-utilized pastures of lesser quality, thus converting a poor asset into profit.
Continuous breeding season	The Dorper is polyoestrus (can breed continually, with no defined season). Their breeding intervals can be as short as 8 months or 3 times in 2 years.
Fast growing	Dorper lambs have an inherent growth potential (ability to graze at an early age). They grow rapidly and can attain a high weaning weight. They also respond well to increased planes of nutrition, giving growers the potential to increase weights rapidly in response to market demands.

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