The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: vfr400boy on August 18, 2021, 04:33:02 pm
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Been reading about hogget etc
If I kept a castrated ram lamb with my ewes until next spring would that be a problem? O should I pop him in the freezer next month with the others?
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A problem in what way? Behaviour? Taste of meat?
I'm actually not sure what you're concerned about, vfr400boy?
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I was just meaning is it worth it ? Do they need any additional feed ? Or can I just leve him with the ewes , they will get hay when the grass runs out ,
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What breed? Most of the traditional, smaller breed lambs don't go until their second summer, but the commercial ones are sent much earlier.
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He is a Suffolk cross mule so commercial, I was just wanting him for my frezer iv never had hogget before and was reading that its nice
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You can always try him but he may be quite fat.
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Hogget is more a meat for the slower growing Primitive breeds like Hebridean, Shetland, Manx etc rather than something like a Suffolk which as twizzel points out tend to get fat if eaten older. Primitives grow very slowly and it is that slow growth which makes their meat so special, firm and so tender but full of flavour, as long as they are grass fed without concentrates. A Suffolk is a breed which was designed to fatten fast and to cook fast to suit the mass palate as Spring lamb. Growing Primitives on to 16 months or so and slow cooking is a way of producing a tender meat from an animal which is simply not big enough at 3 to 7 months old to slaughter for sale.
I would eat your wether at the usual age or you will be very disappointed .
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Hogget is more a meat for the slower growing Primitive breeds like Hebridean, Shetland, Manx etc rather than something like a Suffolk which as twizzel points out tend to get fat if eaten older. Primitives grow very slowly and it is that slow growth which makes their meat so special, firm and so tender but full of flavour, as long as they are grass fed without concentrates. A Suffolk is a breed which was designed to fatten fast and to cook fast to suit the mass palate as Spring lamb. Growing Primitives on to 16 months or so and slow cooking is a way of producing a tender meat from an animal which is simply not big enough at 3 to 7 months old to slaughter for sale.
I would eat your wether at the usual age or you will be very disappointed .
This is why I asked re breed. I would take him in the autumn as well.
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Many commercial lambs are sold as hoggs from January- May following the year they were born, but they are sold as such as they only reach killing weight/finish then. Weight and fat cover are more important than age, so if your lamb is finished in autumn, kill it then. If it’s small and needing more time, run it on until the following spring.
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Thanks for all the replies I will just send them all when fit thanks