[kate7590]

Iv been reading a lot of peoples comments about sending well grown lambs to slaughter (wethers/ rams)
Is this more cost effective than selling them as live animals?

We would ideally like to buy some ewes and possibly a ram soon so we can have lambs in next spring.

I can't seem to find anywhere close by that would 'rent' a ram/ take ewes for a 'holiday' so my initial thoughts are-
Buy ewes and a ram this year and breed in October/ November
Maybe keep ewe lambs with a view to purchase/ borrow an unrelated ram in a couple of years to cover them.
Sell ram lambs (at what age??)/ send to slaughter so we have meat in the freezers.
Would abattoirs slaughter lambs and prepare them for the freezer?
What are the costs involved?
What ages can lambs be slaughtered for meat?

Sorry for all the questions, just want to get it strait in my mind before we jump into the world of sheep keeping!

[Young Ed]

i have got a couple of ewes with their first lamb 'at foot', the ewes will stay on for breeding and the lambs with go for meat at the beginning of november hey will be roughly (8 months old)
will post more later
Cheers Ed

[Dogwalker]

where abouts in Powys are you?  There's a few of us about.

Do you have a breed in mind?

[Bionic]

You might find that you are able to take the girls for a holiday back where they came from. That's what I did my first year. Once I got the idea of what was happening I bought a ram lamb the second year. I have just sold him as a proven shearling.


My lambs are going off to the abattoir at the beginning of Oct. They aren't very big but as I want to send their skins off for rugs then mid Oct is the latest this can do this. I am having the biggest in joints and the other 2 as mince.

[kate7590]

Im in Meifod. We're hoping to get Jacobs as we've heard they're an easy 'starter' breed. We've never kept sheep before so its a bit of a minefield.
We figured we know we want to do it, so lets just go for it! Iv been looking into where to buy some ewes locally and should hopefully be making a trip to collect some in the next few weeks!

I do quite like the idea of being 'self sufficient' and a big part of that for me is raising meat for the table. My husband isn't quite so sure, but if I can get my head around all the stages then Im sure I'll be able to get him on side.

id like to know realistically, how much it will cost and the process involved.
All help greatly appreciated!

[in the hills]

  Hi, we're in Powys too. Not that far from you, between Welshpool and Newtown.

The age they go will depend on the breed you go for and if you breed pure or cross. We have Soay and breed pure so not on their way until 18 months or so.

Our neighbour had some Jacobs with his commercials and crossed to a commercial tup ..... they were ready the same autumn. Someone on here will know when pure Jacobs will be ready.

One of our neighbours, a butcher, took ours on their way. To slaughter and butcher cost £15 per animal.

[twizzel]

Most abattoirs will cut into basic joints/chops but if you want anything more than basic joints it's best to find a butcher that is willing to pick up the carcass, take it back to their butchers and cut it for you.

Cost of kill and cut is £25, £12 to kill and £13 to cut and I think this is about the going rate. Anything like mincing, vacuum packing, de- boning joints would incur extra charges.

IF you want to know the realistic cost of producing lamb for your own table, you need to take into account care of the ewes throughout the year, so worm/fluke drench, flystrike preventative (crovect or clik), hay during the winter months if short of grass, not to mention vet bills if things go wrong.

Are these your first sheep? It might have been a wiser idea to buy some store lambs, run them on through winter and then kill in the spring just so you can get to grips with sheep before adding in breeding. The other thing to keep in mind is what you'll do with a ram if you buy one, as he will need to be separated from the ewes for the majority of the year.

[Dogwalker]

I'm down near Llanidloes.  If you want a day out come and visit for a cuppa and chat about sheep.  I'm newish to it but can fill you in on the basics.

There's a very good abbattoir and family butchers near Wrexham - Rhosllanerchrugog - think that's spelled right.  I'm collecting meat from them this Saturday.  £18 to kill and cut lamb and goats.  Jointed, wrapped and each half weighed and boxed.

How much land do you have and what other stock?

[gt dhi]

Hi kate. I live just outside meifod in trefnannay and have a flock of jacobs. I have some ewe lambs for sale if you wanted to learn the basics of sheep keeping for a year before breeding. I also have a ram for sale or for hire if you want to breed this year. I also have some wethers which will be ready in a couple of months if you want some meat this winter.

[kate7590]

We don't want to just have sheep to slaughter, above all they'll be pets/ lawnmowers, daft I know!
But we didn't want to get overrun with ram lambs/ wethers and wanted to understand more about the process of slaughtering them for meat.

We're in touch with a lady who is selling some of her flock, so we may go and see them soon. Iv been told Jacobs can be bred from the first year, so they will give birth when they're just 1..is that correct?

I'm down near Llanidloes.  If you want a day out come and visit for a cuppa and chat about sheep.  I'm newish to it but can fill you in on the basics.

There's a very good abbattoir and family butchers near Wrexham - Rhosllanerchrugog - think that's spelled right.  I'm collecting meat from them this Saturday.  £18 to kill and cut lamb and goats.  Jointed, wrapped and each half weighed and boxed.

How much land do you have and what other stock?

Thanks for the offer Might take you up on that in the future
We have about 5acres pasture and 4 acres woodland. No other stock, except the dogs lol
Ill have a look online to see if I can find that abattoirs!

Hi kate. I live just outside meifod in trefnannay and have a flock of jacobs. I have some ewe lambs for sale if you wanted to learn the basics of sheep keeping for a year before breeding. I also have a ram for sale or for hire if you want to breed this year. I also have some wethers which will be ready in a couple of months if you want some meat this winter.

Thanks for that! Wish Id known before I was in touch with the other lady lol! How much do you charge for your rams 'services' please? It seems a better idea to borrow a ram than to buy…especially for the first year anyway, while we're still inexperienced

[twizzel]

As long as you've got an outlet to sell your lamb you shouldn't have a problem- be it sending them to market as stores/fat lambs, selling direct to the abattoir or selling butchered as 1/2 lambs to friends/family. Our lambs go through a local abattoir and then a butcher picks them up to cut them to our requirements. The process is fairly easy, book them in, the slaughterhouse will ask who will cut them for you, make sure you have the right paperwork and tags then bring them in the night before slaughter so they are dry, and take them in the next morning.  You'll need a suitable trailer with loading gates, which is totally washed out at the slaughterhouse after unloading.

With regards to lambing as hogs (at 12 mths old) it really depends on how well grown they are come the autumn. More commercial types are normally ok to lamb as hogs but a lot of people tend to leave them to lamb at 2 years old if a smaller breed or if they are late lambs.

[in the hills]

We bought our Soay as lambs and waited until the following year to put them in lamb. We were first time keepers and it allowed us time to get a bit of experience in general sheep keeping etc. before lambing. If we had decided not to lamb it wouldn't have mattered because like you, ours came first as pets/mowers. A local farmer also put his sheep on our land for a while before we purchased our girls and we looked after them .... under his supervision! A good way to learn.

Maybe something similar would work for you .... if first time keepers?

[smee2012]

I have Zwartbles and also have some ewe lambs for sale if you fancied them? We had six lambs this year, four of them ewes, and will only be sending four off to slaughter I expect. I live just outside Shrewsbury, so not too far away. We also use the abattoir in Rhos.

We put our girls to the ram last year and if we'd MV accredited our flock then we could have borrowed our breeder's ram but as it was we didn't so she put us in touch with another breeder (non-MV accredited) who happily lent us his ram (much to our girls' dismay!). We had him for about 6 weeks I think, and then took him back with a thank you hamper for his owner.

In The Hills - you must be Berriew/Bettws way? I have friends in Bwlch Y Ffridd so frequent that road fairly often (I went to high school in Newtown).

[devonlady]

Kate, I can recommend Jacobs as a breed to start with.They are friendly, very easily managed and easy going. I am lucky in that my good neighbour has bought some Cluyn ewes and a Texel ram and has invited me to open the gate dividing our land to put the girls in.
Talk to other sheep keepers in your area, big and small, I will guarantee you'll find them friendly and helpful.

[kate7590]

I have Zwartbles and also have some ewe lambs for sale if you fancied them? We had six lambs this year, four of them ewes, and will only be sending four off to slaughter I expect. I live just outside Shrewsbury, so not too far away. We also use the abattoir in Rhos.

We put our girls to the ram last year and if we'd MV accredited our flock then we could have borrowed our breeder's ram but as it was we didn't so she put us in touch with another breeder (non-MV accredited) who happily lent us his ram (much to our girls' dismay!). We had him for about 6 weeks I think, and then took him back with a thank you hamper for his owner.

In The Hills - you must be Berriew/Bettws way? I have friends in Bwlch Y Ffridd so frequent that road fairly often (I went to high school in Newtown).

Hi Smee2012 
Thanks for the offer, but hubby has his heart set on the Jacobs so will see how that goes
What is MV accredited? 
Do you know if there is a website for the abattoir? Is it quite an easy process to send them off?

Thanks