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Sunday, 10 October 2010

I wanted to take it home!

"A dead cow or sheep lying in a pasture is recognized as carrion. The same sort of a carcass dressed and hung up in a butcher's stall passes as food."
John Harvey Kellogg


Watercolour done in my Moleskine watercolour sketch-book - 8" x 5" - Maree©

My neighbour's sheep - a while ago some ewes had lambs and it was the first time for MANY, MANY years that I actually held a little lamb in my arms again - oh my word! I'd forgotten how precious that can be! I wanted to take it home...!

The Dorper is a South African breed of domestic sheep developed by crossing Dorset Horn and the Blackhead Persian sheep. The breed was created through the efforts of the South African Department of Agriculture to breed a meat sheep suitable to the more arid regions of the country. It is now farmed in other areas as well, and is the second most common sheep breed in South Africa.


A Dorper flock
Pic from "Wikipedia"

The Dorper adapts well to a variety of climatic and grazing conditions. In its native South Africa it has spread from the arid areas to all parts of the country. It reputably does well in various range and feeding conditions and is also suited to intensive feeding. In Australia, Dorpers are now farmed throughout the arid and tropical areas as well as the high rainfall southern States, thriving even in the extreme cold and wetness of Tasmania. Dorpers can be run as a replacement or with suitable management as a complementary flock to Merinos, particularly as shearing costs continue to rise and wool prices fall.


This Framed print for sale on my RedBubble Site