Why are we crossing Dorpers on our Suffolk Ewes? To get better lambs of course. The Dorper is a Hair sheep bred for meat production, unlike many hair breeds the Dorper is a larger breed with moderate bone. We started using Dorpers on our first time mothers several years ago and liked what we saw. The lambs are smaller at birth but catch up with the wool sheep fairly quickly. At 135-150lb market weight the cross breds actually have a higher percentage of meat to bone than the purebreds. The meat is sweeter due to the lack of lanolin production, and we are getting incredible depth at the loin with 5 inch loin eyes being common. The F4 cross ewes are producing Tremendous animals that are beating the purebreds in the market and carcass classes. We keep some Registered Suffolks for the show pen and have a small flock of Khatadin sheep because we like the Heritage Breeds and the rumor is that the finest lamb in the world comes from these hardy hair sheep. We'll let you know in a few weeks. Meg