LEWIS WHITE DORPERS

White Dorper Ram

In 1997 we purchased our first two fullblood White Dorper rams. This was the start of a large scale breeding program originating with a base flock of St. Croix ewes. We felt the St. Croix had many characteristics that would be valuable: They are solid white, a hair sheep, easy care and very resistant to internal parasites. Over the years we have purchased eight more fullblood White Dorper rams to continue our program. See our photo section for pictures of some of the rams used. 

In 1999 we traveled to Australia in search of top White Dorper flocks to expand our bloodlines. We returned to Australia again in 2002 and 2007 and traveled extensively in search of rams that possessed traits valuable to our flock.  In all we have imported semen from over 25 White Dorper sires and purchased one ram. We have come to appreciate the selection for practical production traits by Australian breeders as well as the emphasis put on sound feet and legs and good shedding characteristics. 

Through an ambitious artificial insemination program and natural breeding we continue to strive to produce top quality White Dorpers. We have had many of our registered White Dorpers inspected and typed by Ernest Connan, President of the South African Dorper Sheep Breeders. We plan to continue these inspections as we feel it helps us produce sheep that fit the Breed Standard of Excellence. We also keep production records on our purebred White Dorpers and have utilized Lambplan to link with related White Dorper bloodlines in Australia. Besides our registered flock we also maintain a commercial flock of percentage White Dorpers. 

The origin and history of the Dorper and White Dorper breeds is available on the ADSBS website so we won’t go into it here. Instead we would like to share our observations on White Dorpers in our commercial environment.
 
• White Dorper ewes have excellent maternal qualities, not only milking ability, but also behavioral traits that can significantly reduce labor at lambing time.
 
• White Dorpers are aggressive, non-selective grazers that can really “cover the country” and utilize a wide range of forages.
 
• The breed is very prepotent and will pass on good maternal qualities and carcass traits to their offspring when crossed with other breeds of sheep.
 
• White Dorper lambs have fast growth rates and are able to produce a quality carcass on good forage alone.
 
• No shearing required.
 
We take pride in supplying quality White Dorper rams for registered and commercial flocks. We also occasionally sell groups of ewe lambs, both registered and commercial. Since we are a family run working ranch it is necessary to call ahead if you wish to buy sheep. When we were located in the upper Sacramento Valley it was convenient and easy for buyers to locate us. Since our move, finding us is not nearly as easy. However many of our loyal repeat customers did find us and have enjoyed their exposure to a “Wild West” experience as well!

We are a no-frills operation that can supply quality White Dorper breeding stock to fit most pocket books.