The Dorper is a synthetic breed of sheep created in South Africa due to the need for lambs with higher carcass quality. In recent years, the population of this breed has increased in Slovenia. The rams are used for commercial crossbreeding with ewes of other breeds. Dorper animals have a white body and a black head. There are also completely white animals. The special feature of the breed is that their wool falls off by itself and they do not need to be sheared. The breed can be bred all year round. A review of the literature has shown that the offspring of crosses of the Gymesi Racka, Garut, Red Maasai, Romanov, Improved Jezersko-Solčava and Istrian Pramenka breeds with the Dorper (terminal) breed have higher carcass quality. We focused on the following traits: birth weight, daily gain, cold carcass weight, carcass categorization and fatness score. Due to their fast growth, crossbred lambs can be fattened early and are therefore suitable for slaughter at a lower body weight.
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