FAQ's

Q. Do White Dorpers shed fully or will some need shearing?

A: The shedding characteristics of White Dorpers is very much environmental. In a dry warm environment they tend to shed more cleanly. In a cooler longer seasoned environment they tend to hold onto their wool a little more. We have had full blood ewes here since 2004 and have not shorn one ewe, other than for sale. There are numerous skin types within the breed.

• Hair only types- coarse and goat like.
• White Dorpers with a very soft coat that grows very little wool but has a soft fur like hair.
• White Dorpers that carry a full coat appearing that it would need to be shorn at some stage but never does. It is gradually self-replacing.
• Some White Dorpers carry a full coat and shed it completely through summer, regrowing through autumn/winter.
• We also have White Dorpers carrying a coat that always looks to be growing a fleece but it stays no longer than an inch year around.

Q. How long does the White Dorper grade up process take & what are the costs involved?

A: Again very much environmental. We are lucky to have experience in the pastoral hot dry climate in South Australia and in the cooler longer season of the Avon Valley in Western Australia.

• F1 White Dorpers require shearing as often as any other wooled type of sheep. It is also important to realise they still need to be maintained for lice but they do have a very good tolerance to flystrike relative to wool breeds.
• F2 White Dorpers are where we start to see the physical shape and constitution of the White Dorper breed coming out. In the dryer pastoral environment it is possible to be shearing maybe 70%. They appear to grow wool a lot slower and grow very little wool on the belly, neck and points. I would be comfortable to shear in an 18 month period. In the cooler environments you would possibly shear all of them but you would stretch the shearing out past the twelve month period. The issue of lice is less obvious. They naturally rub, even without lice. Their stripped points and mix of hair make the environment for lice (temperature control for life cycle) less friendly. Flies are less prevalent but, in the right conditions and with dirty sheep, fly strike is still possible. You would not think about a precautionary jet (ever).
• F3 White Dorpers are all but non-shearing. In the warmer drier areas you won't shear. In the cooler longer season areas the odd one could be shorn.
• F4 White Dorpers are considered non-shearing.

Q. Do White Dorpers adapt well to the feedlot environment?

A: Over the last 9 years we have grainfed all grades of White Dorpers alongside numerous other terminal crosses and merinos and we would have no hesitation to say they are superior in all aspects of feedlotting. They are naturally calm as well as being very inquisitive which all leads to an ability to take to the environment of a feedlot very quickly with growth rates starting from day one.

Q. Are White Dorpers a desirable lamb for our domestic market?

A: White Dorpers have one of the highest lean meat yields of all sheep breeds. As far as a maternal breed goes they would be the highest yielding. This means the processor kills less sheep for more meat. They are becoming very much a priority for the processors. Numerous processors in NSW, Victoria and Queensland are now paying a premium on contracted high grade White Dorper lamb.

With their ability to take to a feedlotting environment and their capabilities of handling the heat they are very much a priority for exporters as well.