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LAMBING SEASON 2008 - A YEAR OF INSPIRATION

Lambing season is underway here on Greenwood Farms and our barn is, once again,  filled to the brim with bouncing baby lambs. Every lambing season brings its own challenges and surprises, but this year, we had a big surprise we wanted to share with everyone: On the fourth of March, Bella Sera, one of our favorite ewes, went into labor in the wee hours of the morning. We saw her on our closed-circuit TV (a.k.a the "lamb cam") and rushed to the barn. By the time we got down there, Sera had delivered, but the lamb was stillborn. We comforted Sera the best we could, but she was bereft to be without a lamb and it broke our hearts to see her in such distress. We knew her pain would pass in a day or so, but its always hard to know an animal you love is going through something like this.

 

 The following afternoon, Willow, another good ewe, went into labor. She gave birth to triplets - all healthy and strong. We were glad all were healthy and happy, but lamented the fact that we'd end up bottle feeding at least one lamb simply

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sera & Violet head into their new life together

 because ewes only have two teats and just enough milk for two lambs at the most. As we moved mother and children to a lambing jug (a small pen with a heat lamp), Sera ran back and forth at the gate bleating. Inspiration struck. We looked at one another for a moment, then David said, "Do you think she'd accept one of the triplets?" We knew it was a long shot, but decided to take the chance. We brought Violet, one of the baby ewe lambs, to Sera and right there, in front of our eyes, a miracle happened: Sera started licking the new baby as if it was her own! Within a few minutes, Violet was nursing on Sera and the bond was formed. Willow was fully occupied with her other two lambs and didn't even know we'd fostered Violet to Sera. Fostering lambs is a tricky business. In most cases, a ewe will not accept a lamb that is not her own - even if she's lost her lamb - and it is almost unheard of for a ewe to "adopt" a lamb born more than twelve hours after her labor ended. We've definitely given Sera the mother of the year award! Now Sera had a baby, Violet has all the milk she could ever want, and Willow is happy as a clam with her twins. Sometimes life is good!

        

                       Kindra & Orville                                                                        Lunch Time                                                           Lamb Olympics

 

Our Fullblood Ram, "Ulysses"

 

In June 2004, Greenwood Farms began a new adventure in sheep with a switch from North Country Cheviots to Dorper sheep. We decided to change to Dorpers because they have several advantages for us over the Cheviots:

1. Dorpers are "hair sheep," which means they grow wool in the winter, then shed to a coat of hair in the summer. That means an end to the rigors of yearly shearing, giving us more time (and energy) to spend on our many farm projects.

2. The Dorper originated in South Africa and is, therefore, much better able to withstand our hot Missouri summers. NC Cheviots originated in the cool, moist climate of Scotland and our summertime heat is very hard on them.

3. Dorpers are a much more docile breed of sheep than our Cheviots. This means they suffer much less stress when we work them and it allows us to assist them if they become ill or have problems during lambing-time. Also, the hormones sheep release during times of stress results in tougher meat, Therefore, a more docile breed of sheep will help us produce lamb that is tender and flavorful.

4. Dorpers can be bred every 8 months instead of yearly like most wool breeds of sheep. This gives us the option of having three lambing periods in two years which means more lambs for market and to sell as breeding stock.

5. Finally, because the popularity of the Dorper is growing rapidly in the United States, we will now have an opportunity to raise seed stock as well as meat.

 

SO WHAT IS A DORPER?

Dorpers are a cross between the Blackhead Persian sheep and the Dorset. The Blackhead Persian sheep, a hardy, fat-tailed desert breed from Arabia, brings to the Dorper its hardiness, thriftiness, adaptability, pigmentation and hair covering. It also brings remarkable fertility, with the ability to breed every eight months and to produce a high number of twins. In addition, the Persians have very valuable skins used in the production of fine leather products. The Dorset Horn rams crossed 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.

Dorpers are very docile. Here, Holly & David give our rams some much appreciated TLC.

There are two kinds of Dorper sheep recognized by the American Dorper Sheep Breeder Society (ADSBS): the White Dorper and the Dorper (our breed). White Dorpers have no dark markings and Dorpers are characterized by their white body and black head and neck. Mature Dorper rams  typically weigh over 250 lbs., ewes, 150-220 lbs. However, we don't obsess with mature weights. Feed efficiency is more important than mature weight and fast growing lambs are traits where the Dorper excels.

Since the purpose of the Dorper breed is to produce prime lamb (rather than wool). Dorper lamb does not have the strong taste that causes so many Americans to avoid eating this delicious and healthy meat. It is succulent and fine textured with a mild, delicate flavor.

Some our Fullblood Ewe Lambs

Because the Dorper has been very effective in increasing the growth rate, carcass size and quality of all the typical hair-type breeds such a the Barbados, Katahdin, St. Croix, the Mexican Pelibuey and other breeds that are considered exotic types, the Dorper registry regulations allow for a "breeding-up" program. Rams and ewes are considered purebred at 15/16s ( 93%) Dorper. Typically, the 75% Dorper crosses will exhibit the Dorper coloration and confirmation. To be registered as a Fullblood Dorper, a sheep must come from parents who are also Fullblood.

The modern day Dorper is numerically the second largest breed in South Africa with over 10 million head (over 1/3 of the total number of sheep). In recent years, the Dorper has become popular in the Middle East, China, Canada, Australia, South America, Mexico and the United States.