A Dorper is a fast-growing meat producing sheep. It is a South African breed of domestic sheep developed by crossing Dorset Horn and the Blackhead Persian sheep. The breed was developed through the efforts of the South African Department of Agriculture to breed a meat sheep suitable to the more arid regions of the country.
Dorper Lamb Trivia
- A Dorper Sheep has an average body temperature of about 102.5˚F or 39.1˚ C.
- There is a split in their upper lip, which allows them to select their favorite leaves off a plant.
- They have a 300 degrees field of vision, and they don’t need to turn their head to see behind them
- Dorper doesn’t have teeth in their upper front jaw.
- Their life expectancy is between 6 1/2 to 11 years.
- The length of a pregnancy (gestation period) for a Dorper Sheep is about 145 to 156 days.
Definition:
Herd: A group of Dorper Sheep.
Ewe: Name of the female Dorper Sheep.
Ram: Name of the adult male Dorper Sheep.
Wether: An adult castrated male sheep.
Tubing: The act of breeding for sheep.
Lambing: The act of giving birth to sheep.
Bleating: High pitched sound a baby lamb makes.
Dorper Lamb Buying Guide
Make sure you purchase lamb from a local butcher shop. Look for meat that is fine textured and firm that has red coloring and white marbling. The fat trim should be firm, white, and not too thick. If the lamb is gray, this is a sign that it is past its best-buy date. Soft pink to red always signifies freshness, a hint of brown means oxidation and gray means old meat.
Lamb should not be slimy. If you take your finger and scrape it over the lamb, there should not be residue. It should be a bit dry to the touch.
Dorper Lamb Production & Farming in Texas
Raising a Dorper Sheep will take time as well as a large amount of commitment, but it also provides rewards and will be enticing if a person does stick to it for a long time. Dorper Sheep need a lot of grass as well as plenty of land for grazing for raising the sheep to become quite healthy. It is good to build an excellent shelter for the Dorper Sheep, so they do not suffer any external temperature.
The breed of Dorper Sheep is extremely adaptable with a high ability to flourish, grow, produce and reproduce in irregular and low rainfall environments. They are known to adapt well to feedlot conditions, which offer farmers an alternative method to finish lambs in times of drought. The breed is regarded as having the ability to graze and browse, which suggests it will consume plants seldom eaten by the Merino. Dorpers do not need shearing, crutching, mulesing, and they don’t get flystrike.
Geography:
The Dorper breed was developed during the early 1930s when South African farmers exported a surplus of mutton and lamb to London’s prestigious Smithfield Market. The body was rejected because the European consumers were accustomed to the high-quality New Zealand Canterbury lamb. The South African Meat Board took on the challenge of producing a meat sheep breed that would provide a higher quality carcass and yet, thrive under arid to semi-arid conditions.
A 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. The Blackhead Persian sheep brings to the Dorper its hardiness, thriftiness, pigmentation, adaptability, and hair covering. It also brings remarkable fertility, with the ability to breed every eight months and to produce a high number of twins. Also, the Persians have precious skins used in the production of excellent 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 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, where it is among the fastest-growing breeds.
Butchering and Processing:
Lay the lamb down on his side and tie all of his feet together. Quickly slice the jugular vein and drain the blood until the lamb will pass out. After that, you can remove the head and set it aside. Cut the skin around the hock of both back legs, and cut a slit in the connective tissue of the hock and tie a small rope or twine through each hock.
After that, you can hang the entire body of the lamb upside down by his hocks. Using a knife, scrape the slippery membrane off of the esophagus. Tie the throat into a tight knot to prevent any digestive juices from the rumen leaking out and tainting your meat. Now, using the knife, work your way down skinning the lamb, gently slice between the skin and fat and pull as you go down. Keep working until you get to the neck area.
Slice down the belly, allowing the entrails and organs to spill out. In the back, you’ll need to detach the connective tissue around the endpoint of the intestine so it can fall out through the front. After the insides have all spilled out, rinse the carcass off with water, getting rid of any fur.
Enjoying Dorper Lambs
Dorper Lamb is tender meat with a superior flavor, delicate texture, and mild aroma. Unlike any other lamb, Dorper meat is a bit sweeter and more temperate. There is no oily taste and Dorpers are known for having a natural flavor.
Storage:
In storing Dorper Lamb, Vacuum, you’ll need packaging to inhibits destructive bacterial growth and to allow the natural tenderisation or ageing process to continue. This will enable you to keep your Dorper Lamb in the fridge for up to three weeks. After this time, the meat must be used or frozen.
If a vacuum-packed bag is punctured, the meat should be cooked as soon as possible. The longer it is stored before vacuum-packing or, the longer the meat is stored in the vacuum-pack, the shorter the shelf life after opening.
It should be put in the fridge at 40 °F or below. Use ground lamb or stew meat within 1 to 2 days; lamb chops, roasts, and steaks within 3 to 5 days or freeze at 0 °F or below. If kept frozen continuously, it will be safe indefinitely.
Cooking:
For safety, the USDA recommends cooking lamb patties and ground lamb mixtures such as meatloaf to a safe minimum internal temperature of 160 °F as measured by a food thermometer. Cook all organ and variety meats (such as heart, kidney, liver, and tongue) to 160 °F. Cook all raw lamb steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow the meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming.
Nutrition:
Being rich in high-quality protein and many vitamins and minerals, lamb can be an excellent component of a healthy diet. It is mainly composed of protein but also contains varying amounts of fat.
Protein:
High-quality protein is the primary nutritional component of lamb. It provides all nine essential amino acids with your body’s needs for growth and maintenance. Eating lamb is beneficial for bodybuilders, recovering athletes, and people post-surgery.
Fat:
Lamb contains varying amounts of fat depending on how much of it has been trimmed away, as well as the animal’s diet, age, gender, and feed. The fat content is usually around 17–21% It is composed mainly of saturated and monounsaturated fats — in approximately equal amounts — but also has small amounts of polyunsaturated fat.
Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamin B12: It’s important for blood formation and brain function.
Selenium: Lamb is often a rich source of selenium, which has various essential functions in the body
Zinc: An essential mineral necessary for growth and the formation of hormones, such as insulin and testosterone.
Niacin: Serves a variety of essential functions in your body.
Phosphorus: It’s essential for body growth and maintenance.
Iron: Lamb is rich in iron, mostly in the form of heme iron, which is highly bioavailable and absorbed more efficiently than non-heme iron found in plants.
