Sheep Update, This past week saw that birth of the last due ewe on the farm, and we were fooled that she was ready a few days before the birth, she sure bagged up early but when the little one came, it was as active and healthy as can be.
Its funny to see her out in the pasture, she looks so tiny compared to the other lambs, the ewes and the older lambs walk, she runs to keep up.
Last year, we had all ewe lambs, this year it was a good mix, with 60 percent ram lambs and 40 percent ewe lambs, only one ewe lamb will be kept back this year, that will be the lovely brown/white girl already named Frudge or as we already call her Frudgelit, now if only her baaa didn’t sound like a deep foghorn, I would think her perfect.
We had some challanges in the barn this year, one stillborn, who I believe died at least a number of days before being born, one loss within 24 hours, and then the true strange one, a perfectly healthy almost two month old lamb, that jumped off the bale the wrong way and broke its neck, we had just seem them jumping around and play not 30 min before, and I had commented, I don’t like that the lambs are climbing the big huge bales of hay, do you think that is safe, and the answer is NO.
We had one bottle feed lamb this year, and one bum lamb, asking yourself the difference, the bum lamb was rejected but fully able to drink off a ewe, and more then willing to do, but mom didn’t want him, but after weeks of taking him to the barn, mom gave up and he moved back out to the barn, he is now 3/4 the size already of his momma.
The bottle lamb are just that, they won’t nurse on momma, they are on the bottle, and become house lambs until old enough to head out to the barn when they are big enough.
Having said that in total we have a dozen lovely lambs romping around the pastures, grazing side by side with their momma’s
Next: gardens, Yardwork, Fencing and I have a number of hens of the feathered kind sitting on nest of eggs, so with luck we will have chicks and ducklings gracing the farm soon enough.
So for those that have sheep, how did your lambing going this spring? Are you done? Are you just starting? Half way there? Do you milk any of the mother sheep for your own use?
Just another Day on the Farm 
Can I ask a technical question, from the point of view of someone who knows nothing about livestock. I often see lambs and sheep on craigslist. All different ages and sizes. If I wanted one for meat, what sort of age is a lamb when it goes for meat? Also I would be interested to know if a ram or a sheep is better, or if there is no difference.
thanks.
Of course, you can ask questions 🙂
So my answer are being directed towards breeds that are breed for meat, be it wool or hair sheep like I have, not for the “pet” sheep market, like babydolls.
In regards to lambs, It typically breaks down into two ages that are sold, one is called Easter Lamb, and they are typically around 40 pds live weight and roasted whole for special family events, dressing out to about 15 to 18 pds or so. This is very popular in certain cultures, and so you often see young sheep sold at around this size on the net/craigs. The lambs are old enough to be weaned, but would not naturally wean at that size.
The second typical age for lamb to sold would be as fall lamb, which typically for a meat sheep breed put them between 80 pds an up with a dress out weight on average of about 45 percent, I am lucky that my guys tend to push in the close to 50 perecent mark, but I also ask for everything back, where as most folks don’t.
These guys are still under a year of age and have been both milk raised and grass feed and the farmer sells them in the fall when the pasture starts to give, and they can be grass finished or grain finished. Grass finished will give you a stronger meat, which I am happy to do for buyers but I finish my own on windfall apples personally.
Then there are yearlings, which for me is the ideal, I like the meat better, I like the size better, I find them still tender, but get alot more bang for the buck so to speak in the amount back.
A intact ram lamb will have the strongest flavor in terms of having more of a gamey scent and taste, however talk to the farmer, depending on their market, they will have altered the male lambs, I do half and half, half my rams are made into weathers and they taste just like the ewe lambs, and half are left intact because in a number of Ethnic cultures, they won’t buy any lamb that has had anything done to it, and so will only buy intact. Most farmers will adjust to their local market.
Anything older then that is considered Mutton, and would be fine for hamburger that can be made into different products, but not so great for leg of mutton etc.
If anything is not clear, please feel free to as for more info.
Thanks for that. I dont have anywhere to keep a sheep, sadly, and I dont think an easter lamb would go very far with the 5 of us :-). So I shall keep my eyes open as fall approaches. Around here there is very little lamb for sale in the stores or the butchers. It doesn’t seem to be a popular meat. I dont know if the cultural mix affects that. I love lamb, and we usually make the ground meat into donner (donair) type kebabs, which are to die for! When we bought the 1/4 steer, we asked for bones and organs and fat and got what seemed a token amount, apparently most people dont want those bits, which just seems daft to me (esp as you’ve already paid for them in the rail weight). I’ve never worried about cooking with saturated fats. The last family doctor I had that I trusted believed that cholesterol levels were genetically predetermined and there wasn’t a whole heap you could do to influence them with diet. Was a very freeing thing to hear.