Frequently Asked Questions
What markets do we have?
Dorper cross lambs are the same as any traditional cross bred lamb and are killed on the cross bred grid price as with any others. Traditional selling centers can give mixed results so it safer to book into a kill. Having said that there are some excellent results from fat sales from White Dorper cross lambs. Skin prices are also varied but the dressing percentage certainly covers any fluctuations in the skin price.
There is also a very good market for upgraded White Dorper cross ewes as future breeders with F1 ewe lambs bringing up to $150 in some cases.
Will White Dorpers have an effect on my wool production?
There is a discount on the value of Merino wool where running with Dorper cross lambs and this has to be managed carefully. There is a lot of information in the wool classer’s code of practice on how to prepare these wools and this should be adheared to allow wool buyers to be aware of exactly what they are buying.
It is difficult to put an exact figure on the discount as the dicounts are no greater that normal market fluctuations on any given sale day. It would probably be fair to say that 40 cents/kg clean discount would be as great as it would get and in a lot of cases the discount would be impossible to pick.
First and second cross wool also has a value and in the last three years we have seen from 70 cents/ Kg to 320 cents/kg
Are Dorper cross sheep hard on fences?
Dorper cross sheep appear to be very teritorial and will stay settled when there is plenty of feed and water. They are a lot like cattle and are happy to just hang about and get fat. As with cattle they also have what it takes to go and get either food or water if it runs out. Good sheep fence goes a long way to controling them and 6 line cyclone is certaily more than enough under reasonable conditions.
