[twizzel]

Ad lib cake... blimey... even my tame lamb crew don't get ad lib after the first 6 weeks of life ! daily feeds maybe but not ad lib. It's best to not put a set date on when they are going off- handle them throughout the time they are with you and feel their condition, some may be ready earlier than others. We just sent our last set of lambs off 2 weeks ago but they were Dorset x mule lambs so take a little longer to finish than suff or texel crosses which if we have any are normally are gone by early September.

[SallyintNorth]

Well, at least you're not in Hampshire feeding ad lib cake!  Fingers crossed they won't be too fatty .  If it's just for your own use it won't matter so much anyway - you can cut the fat off when you eat it. 

See what the butcher says, but you might decide to have more sausages, mince and diced if they are very fat.  Although long slow cooked pot roast of a fatty cut ... . 

[Marches Farmer]

If my Southdowns were on ad lib cake they'd struggle to get through an 8ft gate by now.  Also, on your costs, it's customary to amortise (gradually write off start up costs for capital items, in this case kit) over a number of years rather than include it all in the first year costs. 

[Backinwellies]

That's the trouble Sally on the advice of my sheep farmer neighbour they were on more or less adlib cake, probably eating 750g per day and the grass was very lush......

.... was he selling you the cake?