THE HISTORY OF THE DORPER SHEEP

During the 1930’s it became apparent that the sheep breeds available at that time, were not able to produce the type of high-quality carcass required by international meat markets under the extensive & often harsh grazing conditions of South Africa. The South African Department of Agriculture, together with local sheep breeders, therefore embarked upon a long-range research and development project in order to rectify the problem and produce a meat sheep breed that would yield a higher quality carcass and thrive under arid to semi-arid conditions.

In the early experiments it was discovered that the Dorset Horn X Blackhead Persian produce the most desired attributes, so it was decided to concentrate all research on these two breeds.

The Blackhead Persian sheep, a hardy, fat-tailed desert breed from Arabia, was selected for its nonselective grazing, coat shedding, hardiness and good mothering abilities. It also brings remarkable fertility, with the ability to breed every eight months and to produce a high number of twins. Additionally, Blackhead Persians have very valuable skins that were desirable for the production of fine leather products. The Dorset Horn was selected for its rapid growth rates and carcass attributes. The resulting cross of Dorset Horn rams with Blackhead Persian ewes produced fast growing and heavily muscled lambs yielding very satisfactory economic returns under a variety of environmental conditions. The Dorper ewes from this cross were excellent mothers that could be bred in any season.

The breeding project was finalized in 1946 and the Dorper earned a prominent place in the history of South African agriculture. In 1950, the South African Dorper Breeders’ Association was formed.

Several sheep breeders in South Africa originally decided to concentrate upon the breeding of a white sheep. These white sheep were bred out of Dorset Horn X Blackhead Persian or the Dorset Horn X Van Rooy crossbred. These first white sheep were known as “Dorsian” (“Dorsie” in Afrikaans). A separate breeders Society was formed, however in 1964 it was decided to affiliate with the Dorper Sheep Breeders’ Society, since the aim was to breed the same type of sheep with exception of the color, calling the black head sheep Dorpers and the unmarked sheep White Dorpers

The first Dorper sheep were imported into the United States from South Africa in the early 1990’s by Jurgen Schultz of Texas where the Unites States Department of Agriculture placed the flock under a 5-year scrapie quarantine. In June of 1995 the first Dorper and White Dorper embryo transfer lambs were born from South African embryos in recipient ewes imported from Canada by Dr. Teh in Oklahoma. Interest in the breed spread and Dorper and White Dorper sheep can now be found in every state thriving in a variety of different operations and markets.

Dorpers Into the New Century • by Dolf Lategan

A textbook that includes extensive descriptions of the specific attributes of Dorper and White Dorper sheep. It is a training manual from South Africa that includes wonderful photographs that clarify both good and bad characteristics as well as related articles on nutrition, health and flock management.

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To order: https://dorpersheep.org/dorpers-into-the-new-century/