Why Dorper Sheep?

When planning our farm, we wanted to raise and grow our own food in an effort to become self-sustainable and to utilize our abundant resources.  In addition, we needed another livestock species to rotate grazing with our horses to get the best performance from our grass pastures. Initially interested in cattle for this purpose, our thoughts turned to sheep due to their smaller size and quicker grow-out time. Through intense research and discussion with other livestock producers, we decided to focus on Dorper sheep for their lack of wool, heat and drought tolerance, and great tasting, tender meat.  Here is some of what people say about Dorper meat:

"DORPER IS TO LAMB AS WAGYU IS TO BEEF."  

"Dorper sheep are highly regarded as a prime lamb producing breed as they are fast maturing with the ability to produce a high-quality carcass with excellent conformation and fat distribution."  

"Dorper sheep are bred for meat, not wool, so they do not produce lanolin which gives wool lamb it’s gamey flavor."

https://www.caprafoods.com/the-dorper-difference 

"Dorper Lamb is tender meat with a superior flavor, delicate texture, and mild aroma. Unlike any other lamb, Dorper meat is a bit sweeter and more temperate. There is no oily taste and Dorpers are known for having a natural flavor." https://www.texasrealfood.com/promptuary/meats/dorper-lamb/ 

Breed Information:

The Dorper is a fast-growing meat-producing sheep. The Dorper is an easy-care animal that produces a short, light coat of wool and hair that is shed in late spring and summer. It was developed in South Africa and is now the second most popular breed in that country. The Dorper Sheep Breeders Society of South Africa was founded in 1950. This breed was developed by the crossing of a Dorset Horn x Blackhead Persian around the 1930s.[2] Other breeds such as the Van Rooy are also believed to have contributed to the development of the White Dorper breed. The name 'Dorper' is a coupling of the first syllables of the parent breeds Dorset and Blackhead Persian.  The breed is well adapted to survive in the arid extensive regions of South Africa. It has high fertility and maternal instinct, combined with high growth rates and hardiness. The breed has the characteristic black head. (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorper )

Dorper Qualities  from https://dorpersheep.org/about-dorpers/ 

• Hardy and Adaptable – Dorper Sheep are highly adaptable and do well in harsh, extensive conditions as well as in more intensive operations.

• Excellent Maternal Qualities – Ewes are excellent mothers and heavy milkers. Lambs are vigorous and have high survivability.

• Long Breeding Season – Dorpers are non-seasonal or have an extended breeding season. They can easily be managed to produce three lamb crops in two years.

• Reproductive Efficiency – Dorpers are very fertile and prolific. Lambing rates of 180% can be achieved per lambing.

• Pre-potency – Dorper sheep cross well with commercial ewes of other breeds and as terminal sires produce fast growing, muscular lambs.

• Non-Selective Grazers – Dorpers are excellent converters of a wide range of forage types and they excel in grazing or weed control operations.

• Heat and Insect Tolerant – Because of their Blackhead Persian origin, Dorpers have natural tolerance to high temperatures and heavy insect populations. They are productive in areas where other breeds barely survive. 

Our mission is to produce: 

1) home grown, ethically raised, and primarily grass-fed meat for our family and friends.

2) a line of Registered Full-Blood Dorpers that carry the Dry Branch name.

3) to develop a line of Registered Pure-Blood Dorpers that carry the Dry Branch name through 4 generations on the maternal side of each pedigree.

The Beginning:

In late 2022, we purchased 5 yearling Katahdin ewes to begin learning about raising sheep while we sourced Full-Blood Dorpers from other breeders around America. The Katahdin ewes will provide us with the seed stock for the goal of developing a Pure-Blood line of Dry Branch Dorper Sheep.  The Katahdin breed is well known for it's parasite resistance, meat quality, and excellent mothering instincts in ewes that frequently produce twins and triplets each year.  They are also bred locally, relatively inexpensive, and have a good resale market in our area.  

Full-Blood Dorpers: We started accumulating Full-Blood Dorpers from other farms around America in late 2022.  We plan to show and sell our Full-Blood Dorpers as breeding stock for other breeders.

• 2022- acquired Sterling (R) and Eweneice (E) from A and M Dorpers.  

• 2023- acquired Maverick (R) and Wynonna (E) from Green Mountain Dorpers in the spring.  Wynonna was bred to Sterling in the spring and produced Bond in the fall.  Bond is the first Full-Blood Dorper to carry the Dry Branch name. 

• 2024- 3 ewes from Whetstone Prairie Dorpers; Faith, Hope, and Love.  These 3 are bred to a Whetstone ram and due in late May. Wynonna is bred to Maverick due in mid-April.

Pure-Blood Dorpers: In 2023, we bred the Katahdin ewes with Sterling, one of our Full-Blood Dorper rams, to produce 50% Dorper lambs.  The ram lambs from this cross breeding line are destined to fill our freezer to meet our first goal of raising our own food.  The ewe lambs from this cross qualify for registration with the American Dorper Sheep Breeders Society (ADSBS) as "Percentage" sheep.  In 2024 and beyond, we will phase out the Katahdin ewes and will keep breeding these registered "percentage" ewes back to Full-Blood Dorper rams to eventually have 87% Dorper blood in our "percentage" registered flock.  Crossing those 87% ewes back to Full-Blood rams, produces a 93% lamb.  At 93-100%, these sheep are eligible to be registered as Pure-Blood Dorpers with the ADSBS, AND they will have 4 generations of Dry Branch percentage ewes in the pedigree.  

• 2023 produced Bluebell and Bessie, our first registered 50% ewes; 4 50% ram lambs that were butchered for almost 150 pounds of grass fed meat.

• 2024 (as of March 18) produced 3 registered 50% ewe lambs: BlackJack, Perdita, and Pippen; 4 50% ram lambs. Bluebell is bred to Maverick for our first 75% lambs due late fall.  

Our Dorper Sheep

Maverick (Green Mountian Dorpers 2139)

Sire: Top Gun (HC 6 3309) Dam: Manger Farms 1309

DOB: September 2022

Maverick will sire his first lambs in 2024.

Wynonna (KY Proud Dorpers 2005) 

Sire: Holman Ranch 7351 Dam: Holman Ranch 6215

DOB: January 2020

Wynonna is a big bodied ewe with excellent maternal instincts.  She produced Bond in 2023 bred to Sterling, and is bred to Maverick for 2024.

% Lambs for sale:

We offer a limited number of LIVE Percentage RAM LAMBS for sale each year.  We do not sell processed cuts of meat.

We offer these lambs two ways:  

1) We can sell them to you at weaning time. 

2) We can grow them out for you and deliver them to a local butcher (Knight's) for processing when they reach your desired weight.   In this case, the Buyer is responsible for all processing fees paid directly to the butcher, and the buyer will be required to pick the meat up directly from the butcher. 

Contact drybranchsheep@gmail.com for more information and pricing.