Anyone know about the Dorset sheep? They are huge! Normal?

[Meloout831]

I recently saw a pair of Dorset sheep and was impressed at how big these animals were. Is this normal? I want to say they are almost 37" tall and heavy.

If cross breeding what size ram can mate? Suffolk? I may want to buy them for meat production but want to make sure we can find a ram big enough to do the job.

Thanks.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

That's normal sized for many sheep breeds:

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/

 

[zzGypsy]

dorset are big sheep... not unusual for a ram to be well over 300 lbs. 37" would be a bit tall for the sort of dorsets we were seeing in SoCal, 32-34 was more typical, but 37" wouldn't be a shock.

if you're breeding for meat, dorset's a good choice... why not just get a dorset ram? many sufolk rams would be tall enough, and there are some long-legged wool breeds as well, but more important is what are you looking for from the cross?