Time for a sheep update. Well overtime really, as we were asked by Sandra last month how they are getting on. Not much to report really, they are fine, we have been doing their feet, preventing flystrike with crovect, and rotating them through our three grazing areas, the big field, the little field and the orchard. That sounds grander than it is.. we have two acres, divided as such.
Well, Rogan has done very well, no surprise being a single, therefore getting all the milk and there is loads of grass at the mo.
We would like to keep him until he is one year old, thereby giving him longer and us more meat as he will be bigger, but unfortunately we feel we cannot take four sheep through the winter, as the grass got desperately low last time with just three. We have decided to get rid of Sheila. She is the only one of our ewes we cannot handle with ease – the other two come up for petting. As she and Shirley both failed to get into lamb last year – probably due to wrong timing with the ram, although we had no choice due to the foot and mouth restrictions – there is a big question mark over both of them as to whether they will get into lamb this season. Certainly, it does not help that they have become quite fat. Putting them on restricted rations is a no go, as our flock is just too small to divide, and the other two need all the food they want. Shirley, equally unlikely to lamb, has a nice temperament, and the longest fleece. So lately we have been referring to Sheila as ‘mutton’
But, we have finally decided the best thing to do is put Sheila and the other two to the (borrowed) ram, and see if they take. If she lambs, great. If she fails, then at least she might have slimmed over the leaner winter months. Butchery is charged by weight, so all that fat will cost us and be worthless, as well as a nuisiance. So, Sheila’s got another chance, and Rogan will be sent off to slaughter soon.
As you can see from the picture, he is big enough now.
You need our butcher, he charges by the number of bottles of home-brew he could have downed while cutting up the pig or sheep. It’s usually six bottles a pig, four bottles a sheep. He’s a big fan of our strong stout, but I make sure he gets the bottles after the butchering and not before.
Hi – Rogan is looking well.We weaned our lambs two weeks ago.We were hoping to be able to leave them on their mums until they were ready for slaughter,but one of the ewes was losing condition as she insisted on feeding both her lambs and the other ewes twins.The ewes were shipped off to a friends flock afew miles away and the lambs stayed put.Much less traumatic than I expected! I had read that they would cry for a couple of days before settling but they didn’t.I am hoping in a couple of weeks to reintroduce them once the mums have dried up.The lambs will then go to slaughter in October and the ewes to the ram in November all being well.
Luckily with all the rain we have plenty of grass and have also avoided flystrike.
Hello again,
Would it not be practical to feed some hay over the winter, when grass is in short supply, so you could keep your ram lamb longer?
Also, we have never been charged by the pound for butchering. Each year our butcher (we have used several different ones over the years) just gives us a price per lamb – last year it was £15 each regardless of size.
well, we could look around for a different butcher. – certainly one that would accept payment in homebrew would be great ( i suspect my homebrew is not as good as yours though Stoney)
but it is the norm, I understand, to cost the butchering by the weight. Besides that,, too much fat is just a pain that has to be dealt with. either trimming everything before freezing, or at the point of cooking. And much that I like a bit of fat – tonights mutton chops had a nice layer that really added to the roast chops.. but there does come a point when it’s too much.
I take your point about feeding them hay, Suzi, but we would have to buy it in. That and we found that our sheep were not inclined to eat hay when we tried them last year. We did give the ewe some ewe nuts, but we would prefer to raise them (almost) entirely on grass.