East Friesian Vs Dorset/Hampshire/Suffolk

A regular reader, and Canadian friend of mine asked me recently what the differences were between the sheep we currently had and the new ones we had just purchased. This is an excellent question, and seems to follow many of the ones we get from locals - Why can't you just milk the sheep you have?

It's true that we could. The Dorset is a good all-round sheep. It has a decent carcass for meat, its wool is clean and produces a good fiber diameter, and it is an above average milker and breeder (known for higher percentages of multiple births).

They also have a more docile aspect to their nature compared to the Hampshire and Suffolk sheep we have. So, while these attributes are fine under some circumstances (for an all-round operation) the Dorset is not stellar in one particular aspect - the aspect we need - milk production. On the other hand it does have one extremely attractive benefit - what is called the 'out-of-season' breeding characteristic. This means that it is not unusual to get 3 breeding cycles in 2 years instead of the traditional annual cycle.

East Friesian's on the other hand are the most highly productive dairy sheep (producing up to 700kg/1500lbs per lactation cycle which is up to 3 times greater than average sheep).

So, while we could indeed milk our Dorset's, the milk production with East Friesian's is much higher, and more milk means more cheese! Now, cross them with Dorset's and if you can breed into a ewe lamb both the East Friesian milk productivity and the Dorset's 'out-of-season' breeding characteristic you have a winner - a sheep that breeds more frequently and when it lactates is produces three times the normal milk supply. And that is exactly what we aim to do.