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HISTORY and INFORMATION
REAL DORSETS WORK FOR YOU - I have always believed that the flock should be profitable and work for you, instead of you working for them. I’ve talked to many shepherds that have had to reduce their flock because it was too labor-intensive for the returns it generated.
HUNTER DORSETS are easy care, low labor and productive. If you are just getting into sheep or are looking to improve your flock, give us a call. Our Pure Polled Dorset's thrive under conditions where other sheep hardly survive.
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| HUNTER DORSETS are durable, heavy muscled, easy keeping stock with superior maternal genetics. The ewe flock is housed outside year-round with no shelter, not even trees. Ewes only come to the barn in late gestation and lactation. Some groups lactate on pasture. The flock does well outside; on grass even in our miserable weather. The winters; ground is frozen only in January– the rest of winter is mud and cold rain. Our Summers are: 90+ degrees with 90% humidity through the breeding season. |
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EASY LAMBING — Our ewes have lambs on there own. The lambs are up fast and nurse unassisted.
CLOSED FLOCK — 100% Closed flock since 1988; linebred genetics for optimum performance predictability. Disease is minimal. We are free of Foot rot, OPP Pneumonia, B.Ovis, Caseous, and Q Fever.
PURE PRODUCTION DORSETS WITH SIZE — We have true Dorset type; heavy-muscled stock that also has good frame size. Our ewes are prolific, heavy milkers which produce fast gaining lambs.
ACCELERATED LAMBING GENETICS — Rams and ewe lambs available out of accelerated lambing ewes. We lamb 3 times per year at 7-8 month intervals. Our ewes will breed any season of the year! |
| I have owned sheep since 1967 when I was ten years old. Always active in the sheep business I have been selling breeding stock since 1980. We have had Dorsets since 1985. Our Dorset flock was created from buying out two different breeders. They were closed flocks that were selected for important production traits. Only two outside rams were used prior to the closing of our flock. Our current flock size is 320 ewes. |
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Hunter Dorsets: A description –
a '320' ewe flock of easy care registered Polled Dorsets, run as a commercial flock. A low labor, efficient, practical operation done as a part-time job.
In 1988, I closed the flock after eradicating footrot and years of testing showed we were free of OPP. The flock is 100% closed. No animals have been added from outside sources since 1988. No animals which leave the flock return; thus no ram lending, etc.. Flock . We are free of OPP, Footrot, Q fever, Caseous, B. Ovis, etc. We have no negative recessive genes, so we linebred for predictability and uniformity of the flock. I regularly mate half-siblings and I keep several rams, usually 8 to 10 just for my own use.
Our flock is known for its success in a wide variety of climates and management conditions. Purebred and commercial breeders seek us out because of our practical true Dorset type of sheep that perform. I believe the sheep should work for you - thus my advertising slogan; 'Real Dorsets Work for You'…
Visiting Hunter Dorsets – We welcome visitors; however these visits must be made by advance appointment. We schedule most customers and ‘visitors’ for Saturdays; however it is possible to come on different days. We prefer no visits during peak lambing season due to the volume of work at that time.
When you visit Hunter Dorsets: Wear clean clothing and shoes which have not been around sheep or any other livestock. We will also ask you to disinfect your shoes and/or wear plastic shoe covers. If you plan to visit other sheep farms the day you visit us, we ask that you come to our place first. All of the above requests are precautions that we take to avoid the spread of disease and other organisms between farms.
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