Look underneath: the two clear landmarks
Sexing a young Dorper lamb is done by looking underneath, not by head shape, size, or behaviour. Restrain the lamb securely, sitting it gently on its rump against your body or laying it on its side with a helper holding it calm, then lift the tail. A ewe lamb has two openings close together under the tail: the anus, and just below it a small vertical slit, the vulva. A ram lamb has only the anus under the tail; his anatomy sits further forward and lower on the belly instead.
The ram lamb's belly and scrotum signs
A young Dorper ram lamb shows a smooth belly with one giveaway feature: a small tuft or dimple roughly midway along the underside, where the sheath lies under the skin. In a newborn the testicles may still sit high and be hard to see, but within the first weeks they descend into a small scrotum between the back legs that you can feel as two firm, even oval shapes. If you can only find one testicle, or none, note it rather than guessing, because a retained testicle matters for later breeding and management decisions and is worth flagging at the lamb's first vet check.
The ewe lamb's signs, and common mix-ups
A young Dorper ewe lamb's vulva is small but distinct once you know to look directly below the anus, and she has no belly tuft or sheath. The most common mix-up is mistaking the ram lamb's sheath tuft for a navel scar, or assuming a chunky, bold lamb must be a ram; Dorper ewe lambs can be just as heavy and confident as their brothers. Another error is sexing a lamb while it is wet and slippery straight after birth, when everything is swollen and hard to read. If the view is unclear, wait until the lamb is dry, check again in good light, and mark the record as unconfirmed until a second look settles it.
When to check, and how to handle the lamb
The easiest time to sex a Dorper lamb is during the routine handling it already receives: navel care, tagging, and weighing in the first day or two. Keep the lamb low and supported, work quickly, and return it to the ewe promptly so the pair bonds undisturbed. Wash your hands before and after handling newborns, and never hold a young lamb suspended by its legs. If you are sexing a slightly older lamb, a calm sit on its rump in the crook of your arm keeps it still without a struggle that risks injury to lamb or handler.
Why the record matters as much as the check
Knowing each Dorper lamb's sex correctly drives feeding groups, castration decisions, breeding plans, and sale listings for months, so a wrong early guess quietly corrupts everything built on it. Writing the sex, tag number, and birth details into the lamb's own record at the moment of checking removes that risk of a muddled memory later. KinsLe helps keep that identification reliable, since the Pet Passport holds each lamb's sex, tag, and birth notes together in one portable record that travels with the animal.