Twin
County Dorpers is located in the heart of the Texas Hill
Country, near Harper, Texas. The ranch has historically run
several breeds of sheep and goats throughout the years. Beginning
with wool and mohair producing animals, the page was turned
to bring in meat producing breeds of sheep and goats. The
White Dorper sheep was selected
and foundation animals were first acquired in 2004. We selected
this breed because of its outstanding characteristics, which
include its overall field performance and temperament, its use
in cross breeding programs without adding color to the progeny,
coupled to the superior quality
of the resulting meat product.
No need for mint jelly to mask the
taste of this fine meat !
Our flock
is comprised of quality breeding rams and ewes which are registered
with the American Dorper Sheep Breeders’ Society. Improvements
in the genetics of the herd are made each generation through
careful selection and culling. New rams are regularly acquired
from other well known breeders and young ewes exhibiting superior
breed characteristics are set aside and grown to breeding age
for herd improvements.
At the ranch,
the sheep graze freely and are supplemented with different types
of hay and grain during harsher or dryer months of the year.
Annual grasses like sorghum and oats can be grown in our area
and are particularly well suited for increased lactation and
growth of the young lambs.
We participate whenever possible in regional and national Dorper
sheep expositions. We find these to be a very good opportunity
to visit and to exchange ideas, experiences and concerns with
other Dorper breeders. In addition, these gatherings provide
us an opportunity to compare our animals to other breeders’
sheep, to compete in the arena and to buy new bloodlines to
enhance our own breeding program.
|
|
|
|
|
|
2015 National Grand Champion Ram (Duncan, Oklahoma) |
|