Dorset Horn
Dorset Horn are an all white sheep of medium size having good body length and muscle conformation to produce a desirable carcass. The fleece is very white, strong, close and free from dark fiber. Dorset ewes weigh from 150 to 200 pounds at maturity. Dorset rams weigh from 225 to 275 pounds at maturity. Dorsets are one of the few breeds that carry the "out-of-season" breeding characteristic. The ewes are good mothers, good milkers and multiple births are not uncommon. Dorsets work well in commercial situations both in the ewe flock and from a terminal sire aspect.
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Dorset Horn ewe |
Dorset Horn lamb |
Dorset Horn ram 11F |
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I purchased my flock of Dorset Horn in October of 2001 from a local breeder who had been raising Dorset sheep for many years. In 1995 he imported some semen from Great Britain to improve the genetic base of his Dorset Horn sheep. The semen came from "The Poorton Flock of Dorset Horn and Polled Dorsets, founded 1906 Reg. No.359, Fooks Brothers, Manor Farm, North Poorton, Bridport, Dorset, DT6 3TH".
I currently have 27 ewes of various ages and 3 rams from the original flock.Two of the rams are direct offspring of the Poorton A.I. (3F and 11F ). The third ram is a ram lamb from last year ( 2L ) which was kept as it carried some good bloodlines. I also have a promising number of lambs that were born this past spring. My Dorset Horn are easy keepers and seem to thrive on pasture alone. A limited number of ram and ewe lambs are usually available for sale. Please contact Greg Marshall at 902-848-6013 or by email at jgmarshall@eastlink.ca
I recently purchased 2 ram lambs from Patric
Lyster of Vilna, Alberta " Coyote Acres".
One of the ram lambs was sired by Douglas Downs 77/95 by artifical
insemination from imported New Zealand semen. The other ram lamb was sired by
Spring Rim Farm 467 which was a ram imported by Patric from Wisconsin.
In looking at the pedigrees of my sheep back for one or two generations some
of the names that appear on the registration forms are as follows: Bowen
Pride, Lamb Trax, Foxfire, Cooper, Joywind, Quatre Vents, Kellogg, Thrilwall,
Drury, Blue Spruce NZ, and Dearing.
The Dorset Horn is on the Watch list for the American
Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
Watch:
Fewer than 2,500 annual North American registrations and estimated fewer than
10,000 global population. (Also included are dairy cattle breeds which show
marked decline in numbers over the last 20 years.)