National Dorper Sale - 1 September 2010

Dubbo Showground

See Sales for photos and information on the 2 rams and 2 ewes we have entered at the sale.  

Visit and Grading by Philip Strauss

Following the National Show at Dubbo in May we were lucky enough to have judge Philip Strauss from Namibia grade our sheep. Philip is an extremely successful breeder, with his genetics very influential in the breed and reflected in many of the top studs in South Africa. It was a wonderful opportunity to spend a day with such a successful, knowledgeable Dorper breeder, who is so keen to share his knowledge and take the time and effort to fully explain his advice and decisions. Philip's advice will be invaluable in guiding our breeding and selection decision making into the future.

From a personal perspective it was extremely gratifying that Philip was very impressed with our 2008 ewes and graded them accordingly. Around 75% of ewes inspected were studded and of those 50% graded as Type 5.

As a result of the grading we also now have studded and potential stud rams available for sale, including rams by 'Bullo'.

Two New Sires Purchased in 2009

Adrian Veitch from Kaya made a very successful trip from WA to the National Show at Dubbo with a team of rams, winning several classes with both Dorpers and White Dorpers.

Adrian also brought over a ram we had selected. The ram Kaya 060856 -'Marco' is a Type 5 ram from an imported Tien Jordaan embryo and has proven a successful sire for Adrian. We expect the long wait for 'Marco' to finish his duties at Kaya will be more than worthwhile. His particular features are his very good head and forequarter and excellent muscling. 'Marco' is also a hairier type and an excellent shedder. We expect he will work well over our bigger structured, woollier 'Bullo' ewes.

The first of his lambs are on the ground. The structure and muscling of these lambs is the best we have had at this early stage and we are watching carefully as they continue to develop, but could not be happier so far. They are showing the hairier cover of their father, which looks good and seems to offer greater protection from some of the biting insects that can be a pest in this area.

We are very excited about our lastest sire purchase - Whynot 'Warrior' - a very good Type 4 ram, purchased at the 2009 National Dorper Sale. We expect he will make a very positive contribution to the cover and overall quality of our sheep. He has very good length and a good topline, and his balance is outstanding. He has good conformation, very good legs and feet, and excellent muscling. To top this off he has a very good head, along with excellent colour and cover. Coming from the superior soils and pastures of Narrabri we may have expected him to take some time to adjust the the poorer coastal pastures, but instead he has thrived. We have recently mated him to many of our top 'Bullo' ewes.