People often ask why we shear a shedding sheep, a valid question.
As we mentioned on our post on "shedding" the dorper sheep is primarily a meat sheep, and muscularity is of prime importance. If we concentrate too much on shedding we would produce a carcass more like some of the hair breeds and inferior to our 'competition" in the lamb industry. The muscling is best seen when the sheep is shorn, and if you learn to look, you can see the degree of shedding and the type of cover.
If you look at a dorpers conformation, notice the muscle above the elbow, a bulge here indicates good mucle through the whole animal. A nice flat topline and smooth shoulder are also important.
As we mentioned on our post on "shedding" the dorper sheep is primarily a meat sheep, and muscularity is of prime importance. If we concentrate too much on shedding we would produce a carcass more like some of the hair breeds and inferior to our 'competition" in the lamb industry. The muscling is best seen when the sheep is shorn, and if you learn to look, you can see the degree of shedding and the type of cover.
If you look at a dorpers conformation, notice the muscle above the elbow, a bulge here indicates good mucle through the whole animal. A nice flat topline and smooth shoulder are also important.
Sale ram showing shedding line, darker top will shed last
Before shearing, the light, loose cover coming away
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