Photos Copyright Julie Atkinson

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

Ewe Lambs on a Misty Morning

The Greenwood Farms Flock

The Rush of Lambing

Mothering
Kindra holds one twin while another gets a drink.

Lamb Olympics
All baby animals love to play, but lambs may have the most fun!

Coming Home
Julie's sheep come home

regularly for a little TLC

Mother and Son

Hattie and son Jimmie relax on a warm spring afternoon.

As of July 6, 2010, we no longer have dorpers to sell.

A Note From the Shepherd: This year, we have made a very difficult decision: We are selling our entire flock, except for two or three ewes which we will breed for our own lamb. We decided to sell our flock because other areas of the farm need our attention and, as many of you know, sheep management takes a lot of time. Many thanks to everyone who has purchased dorpers from us in the past or who has enjoyed our lamb on their table. We will have lamb (meat) for sale this summer, but this will be the last for a while. - Thank you, Julie Atkinson

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.

 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.

 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.

DORPERS on GREENWOOD FARMS

Dorper sheep have been our "breed of choice" since 2004 and its fair to say, we couldn't be happier. In our experience, Dorpers are docile, good mothers, and seem to thrive in the hot summers and cold winters we have here in Missouri.

Naturally, one of the big advantages of raising Dorpers is the fact that they are a "hair sheep" and seldom have to be sheared. We've tailored our breeding program to producing sheep that shed down to a sleek hair coat in summer and that takes one big step out of sheep management.

Another reason we've chosen Dorpers is the fact that they produce market lambs that grow quickly and fatten well on grass. Our lamb is in demand at Farmer's Markets and restaurants in the St. Louis area because the cuts are good-sized and the meat is juicy and tender.

Happily, not all of our sheep go to market. We keep a flock of about 30 ewes and two rams, year-round. These are the sheep that "Head Shepherdess" Julie Atkinson can lavish with affection. Make no mistake, our market lambs are well cared for, but the breeding stock are the ones Julie makes into lifelong friends.

Sheep are a "management intensive" type of livestock. Having been domesticated for thousands of years, they have come to depend on human shepherds to meet their many needs. For Julie, this is a daily task. Some days, its just a matter of checking on everyone to make sure all is well, but then there is deworming (every two weeks in summer), foot trimming, vaccinations, weaning, and, of course, lambing.

Lambing is the high-point of the shepherd's year. We start lambing in March and for about 6 weeks, the women of the Atkinson family earn their stripes as midwives. We practice "management intensive" lambing. Because we know our sheep as "people," we aren't content to let them lamb out on pasture and just hope for the best. Two weeks before lambing begins, we bring all the pregnant ewes to the barn. We give them extra food and lots of TLC as their time approaches. We monitor the flock day and night with a closed-circuit TV camera, known as the Lamb-Cam, and are present for every delivery.

Sheep are notorious for having problems with birthing. Most often the problems are minor: A lamb that's a little too big, twin lambs that are trying to be born at the same time, or lambs with a leg back or an elbow locked in the birth canal, but even these issues make the ewe's job more painful and distressing and its our job to alleviate that stress. When a ewe goes into labor, we give her 30 minutes from the time her water breaks to give birth on her own. After that, Kindra holds the ewe steady and Julie puts on her O.B. gloves and examines the placement of the lamb inside the ewe. She corrects any malpresentation and helps the ewe deliver her lamb (or lambs) in a gentle and timely manner. Not only does this reduce stress (for everyone) it also keeps the ewe from becoming so exhausted she cannot bond with her new babies.

Once the lamb is born, we step back and let the ewe go to work. She licks her baby to dry it, all the while "talking" to her lamb in a soft, rumbling voice we call "the mother sound." Shortly thereafter, we move the mother and her lamb(s) to a small pen called a "lambing jug." We have six jugs in the barn, each with its own heat lamp for the babies and plenty of water and hay for the ewe. Giving the new family a small home for the first few days helps strengthen the bond between the ewe and lambs and makes nursing easier for the lambs while they get their land legs because Mom is never far away.

As soon as the lamb is standing (usually within 5 minutes), we help it find the udder and get its first long drink of the life-giving milk that will sustain it for the first months of its life. In healthy lambs, the "sucking reflex" is instinctive and most lambs will find the udder in time, but we want to be absolutely certain the lamb has nursed before we leave the little family to get acquainted.

On day two or three, we move the new family from their jug into the "kindergarten" with other ewes and their lambs. By this time, the lambs know their mother by smell and the ewe also knows her lambs, so no one is in danger of getting lost or confused. At first, the ewe and her lambs stay close together, but within a day or two, the lambs are making friends and having a great time doing what all children do best: Play! One of the best parts of this exhausting time of year is pausing to watch the "lamb races" in the kindergarten. As soon as the lambs realize what their legs are for, they use them as much as they can - running back and forth across the barn, kicking up their heels and having a great time.

Another perk is the task of socializing the ewe lambs so they are friendly with humans as well as sheep. None of us complain when its time to sit in the kindergarten and play with the lambs ourselves. Some lambs are more social than others, but within a few days, we get swarmed any time we sit down. You can't beat "Lamb Love" when you need a pick-me-up!

Once lambing is over, and the grass is coming on - usually in mid-April - the flock goes out to pasture. Often, Julie takes the sheep out in the morning, then brings them home at night. This way, she can keep socializing the lambs and keep a good eye on their health. The sheep love it. Centuries of being "brought to the fold" at night, have made sheep very routine-oriented, and all the coming and going seems to suit them just fine.

Throughout the summer, the sheep are never far from Julie's watchful eye. Once the lambs are weaned, Julie usually brings the ewe lambs to the barn for extra socializing. The market lambs stay out on pasture and are dewormed regularly and the ewes are in another field where Julie can easily bring them to the barn for deworming, foot trimming, etc.. Julie visits the girls in the field daily, just to check in, and spends lots of time keeping the ewe lambs clean and well-fed at the barn.

As the summer wanes, the sheep come back together as one flock and we begin preparations for breeding, usually in October. If the summer has been dry, we bring the mothers-to-be up to the barn and give them some extra feed, so they will be plump and healthy for breeding. Then we take great pains to decide which ewes should be bred to which rams - and then the breeding season begins.

We put the rams with their respective ewes for about 6 weeks. This gives the ewes two full heat cycles to get bred and that's generally enough to insure a full crop of lambs in the spring. Sheep are pregnant for five months and during this time, we make sure they have the best grass and hay. At four months pregnant, we vaccinate the ewes so their milk will have extra-good antibodies for their newborn lambs, and before you know it, lambing season is here again.

Being a shepherd is a full-time job and it demands constant attention to detail, but the rewards are many. Perhaps it is best summed up in this quote by Kahil Gibran:

Yes, there is Nirvana; it is in leading your sheep to a green pasture,
and in putting your child to sleep, and in writing the last line of your poem.