New email address : collin@bridgetowndorpers.com
Do you need to shear F1s?
We recommend that you
do shear F1s.
When will you not have to shear crossbreds?
You may find that
you need not shear F3s. Some F2s and even some F1s will shed. If
the rams that sired them were good shedding types the chances are
better. (Stress will contribute to any sheep shedding).
I just have a small block, how many sheep
should I have?
We suggest that you
contact your nearest Department of Agriculture and ask them to
estimate your Dry Sheep Equivalent (DSE) carrying capacity.
It is reasonable to
assume that you will be able to carry at least as many Dorpers as
any other breed of sheep.
How many crosses do you need before you
can register the sheep as a Dorper?
It is now possible to register cross bred Dorpers with the Society. They will require full pedigree details.
F4 ewes can be provided with certificates
that will attest to their status as "Pure Bred Up
Grade";
Also F5 rams can be similarly registered and have certificates
issued.
Guide to cross bred percentages ( what does
F1 F2 etc mean?)
F1 = ½ or 50%
F2 = ¾ or 75%
F3 = 7/8 or 87.5%
F4 = 15/16 or 93.75% Can be registered as a
Pure Bred Up-Grade ewe
F5 = 31/32 or 96.88% Can be registered as a
Pure Bred Up-Grade ram
F6 = 63/64 or 98.84%
F7 = 127/128 or 99.22%
F8 = 255/256 or 99.61%
F9 = 511/512 or 99.80%
F10 = 1023/1024 or 99.90%
F11 = 2047/2048 or 99.95%
Why are Dorper ewes so expensive?
Dorpers are
relatively new to Australia and so most Dorper farmers are
building up their flocks. This means they need to retain most of
their ewes for their own breeding purposes. Half of a crop of
lambs will be rams, so this is why you can buy full blood Dorper
rams for less than ewes.
What does a Dorper ram cost?
This will depend
upon the quality of the ram you choose. If you want to buy a
‘Stud Ram’ the price will be higher than for a Flock
Ram.Dorper rams are not likely to cost any more than any other
good breed of sheep.
What is a Flock Ram?
A Flock Ram has not
been registered. It should be full blood Dorper. It is
probably not Stud standard because of some small fault such as a
colour defect. A good Flock Ram will not be inferior in
conformation to a Stud ram. Actually, most rams are Flock Rams.
What is ET?
ET stands for Embryo
Transplant. This is a method of reproduction that is used for a
variety of reasons including the rapid multiplication of pedigree
animals, the multiplication of sheep with certain inheritable
traits etc.
Ewes are treated to synchronise their season and a drug is administered to produce super ovulation. The ewes are artificially inseminated and later flushed to retrieve the fertilised eggs. The embryos are transplanted into recipient ewes (surrogates).
The following link is
to a site that gives some excellent information on artificial
breeding www.CreeksideAnimalClinic.com
What is a “Pregnancy”?
This the term used for
the surrogate mother into which the embryo is transplanted in an
ET program. She is referred to as a ‘recipient ewe.
A Pregnancy is sold as
a guaranteed “in-lamb” ewe, having been scanned to
confirm pregnancy. (N.B. the lamb is not guaranteed the ewe is
guaranteed to be in-lamb).
Do Dorpers need shearing?
Most Dorpers will shed
their fleeces; some do this more readily than others. We are
breeding selectively to improve the instance of reliable
shedding. You may like to “tidy up” the odd Dorper that
has not shed well.
Dorpers are shorn if
they are to be shown in competition.
What maintenance do they need?
Dorpers are hardy
sheep. They should not need to be crutched (unless excessively
wormy) and they should not need shearing.
We recommend that
they be vaccinated at least once a year with 6 in 1 or similar
vaccine.
Ewe Guard or Weaner Guard have the vaccine and a wormer all in
one.
Dorpers can be
susceptible to Pulpy Kidney so the vaccination should eliminate
the likelihood of losing you sheep to that or associated
diseases.
Drenching is
recommended according to the worm exposure.
Do Dorpers get ‘Fly Strike”?
We have not had any
full blood Dorpers suffer from fly strike, in fact we have not
had any fly strike in sheep F2 onwards.
We have not quantified
the percentage of fly strike in F1s, however, we have had a very
few become struck when conditions have favoured it and the sheep
have had a Merino style of covering. Most of the time the sheep
have got over the strike before we have had the opportunity to
carry out usual husbandry. (It’s worth pointing out that we
live in an area that experiences a high level of fly strike in
susceptible flocks).
Will Dorpers have twins?
We aim for our Dorpers
and crosses to have multiple births. Dorper rams seem to have the
capacity to throw twins in other breeds of sheep as well.
Many small property
owners run a ram with just a few ewes and it is likely that they
will have multiple births under such intensive exposure.
If the conditions are
good; it is likely that the ewes will breed continuously when run
non-stop with a ram in such circumstance.