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Welcome to Smokey Creek Farm!
We are breeders of Dorper sheep, located in central Ontario, Canada. Our 100 acre farm is close to Mount Forest, 3 minutes west of Kenilworth. We provide quality registered Dorper rams and ewes to producers of market lambs for the Ontario and international markets, and to other breeders of dorper sheep who are looking for new, high-quality bloodlines for their breeding programs. Our breeding stock is registered by the Canadian Livestock Records Corporation.
We are dedicated to raising our animals in clean, healthy conditions, with a maximum of time spent outdoors year-round. In winter, our sheep have free access to our barn, but often choose to spend most of their time outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. In warmer months, our Dorpers are primarily on a grass/pasture diet, with some mixed grains added for mothers with young lambs. We do not over-grain our lambs to make them grow faster and produce "impressive" weight gains. Dorpers are great foragers, and we encourage that quality in our lambs and our breeding program.
We also sell lamb products directly to Ontario consumers and can deliver various delicious cuts of naturally-raised lamb to southern Ontario consumers and restaurants.
We chose Dorper sheep due to their easy-to-manage nature (very docile - no "rammy" rams), high-quality meat, and the fact that they are 'hair' sheep. Typically, Dorpers shed most of their wool in spring and do not require annual shearing. In winter, the fleece thickens up for protection from the cold. The Dorper breed has focused on high meat quality, and the breed matures early. Ewes can be bred more than once per year, so 3 breedings in 2 years is typical in a market production situation.
In our case, we breed once per year so that the lambs are born in spring and can spend their early months on our pastures--and that's easier on the ewes, too.
If you're a market lamb producer, you'll find that you'll often get top dollar at auctions for lambs with Dorper terminal sires. If you enjoy eating lamb (and who doesn't) you'll love the mild taste and leanness of the Dorper breed.
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