Whetstone Prairie Dorper and Soay Sheep Farm 

Welcome to the Whetstone Prairie Web Site    

Located in the heart of central Missouri, we are dedicated to the production high quality breeding stock for folks interested in meat sheep of the future (Dorper) and heritage sheep from the Bronze Age (Soay).

     Both breeds need minimal supplementation, are adaptable to a about any climate, and neither require shearing.  Dorpers are a hair sheep (many carry a hair/wool mix) that sheds annually and Soay shed their wool fleece annually every spring/early summer.

 What We Do

    We provide seed/replacement Dorper rams and ewes for commercial breeders to enhance the vigor of their flocks. We also provide breeding project and club lambs for organizations such as FFA and 4H.  For individuals interested in the preservation and genetic diversity of rare Soay sheep, we provide starter flocks.  For the meat lover natural grass-fed Dorper and Soay lamb is also available.

About Our Foundation Flocks

DORPER

     We chose to breed Dorpers because they are the biggest hair sheep with the best carcass yet have maintained the short muscular stature that has been lost in many of today's modern sheep breeds.

     Our fullblood/purebred Dorper flock has been built utilizing genetics from the top breeding programs in the United States.  Our philosophy is to select sheep that best conform to the breed standard including the following characteristics: fast early growth, stuctural soundness, deep wide body, and shedding ability.

Above is a nice example of our commitment to top genetics paying off.   Whetstone 8074, a fall ram lamb born Sept. 2008 was aleady well shedded by May 15, 2009 (left).  You can see the shed was complete on June 11, 2009 (right).  This ram is packed with muscle and is QR on Codon 171 for scrapie resistance. 

SOAY

     Our Soay sheep are of British/American ancestry.  We started with an excellent set of genetics purchased from top breeders on the West Coast including Saltmarsh and Blue Mountain (these bloodlines were recently transferred to Saltmarsh Ranch).  Soay have proven to be the easiest keeping sheep we have ever been associated with.  We have never observed a single birthing problem, lambs are born with nice layer of fat and an extremely thick and water resistant fleece.  They are also the most parasite tolerant sheep we have had experience with.

 Note the unique color patterns on these 2009 Soay lambs.  While Soay are an excellent source of wool and meat, they can also provide an experimental laboratory on your own back forty for studying color and horn growth genetics.

Whats New?

     We recently added several more very nice ewes from the 2009 Midwest Stud Ram Sale and National Dorper Sale in Sedalia.  The fullblood and purebred ewes we brought home were in line with our breeding philosophy and brought several more scrapie resistant R codons to our flock.

A few of our new ewes get adjusted to their new surroundings.