The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: Womble on June 27, 2015, 12:04:17 pm
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We have a wee Shetland cross lamb that I managed to miss with the debollockation machine when he was younger. This gives me a dilemma as he'll be too small to send away this year, but equally a pain in the bum (not to mention a risk to my neighbour's champion Beltex virgins) to keep over the winter.
However, he does have the most gorgeously soft fleece on him, which by winter will be just the right size for warming my feet on when I'm sitting at the computer working reading TAS.
An old thread mentioned a home tanning kit from Snowdonia Supplies (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/www.snowdoniasupplies.co.uk/), so I was just wondering if any of you have used it or similar in the past, and if so, how difficult / time consuming was it to do, and what the results were like?
Cheers! :thumbsup:
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I'll take the deafening silence as a 'no' then!? :roflanim:
I've got to do SOMETHING with this wee chap - just caught him attempting to get jiggy with one of the Zwartble gimmers (He's less than three months old for goodness sake! - heaven knows what he'll be like by Christmas!?).
I swiftly 'weaned' him over the fence into another field and am SO so hoping he didn't manage it. If we end up with lambs in November, I'm going to tan that boy's hide..... literally! >:(
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I send mine off for tanning but it wasn't cheap
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I'm sure someone did do it themselves, and wrote it up, Womble - you'll just have to trawl / search, sorry :(
ETA here you go (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=52439.msg450259#msg450259)
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Christmas will be too late, as the fleece will fall off in the processing. Depending on where you are (climate), about early November is the last time for taking the skin off. Collect it from the abattoir asap after slaughter, so you can get it home and covered with salt within 2 hours of slaughter. Don't be surprised at the 'purse' dangling there. Your lamb will be pretty small at that time, but if it's just for home consumption, and the reason for slaughter is to get a good skin, then it's no problem.
I've never tanned a sheep skin myself - way too much work to do all that pummeling and stretching. My boys did try tanning a grey squirrel and it turned into a Frisbee.
We'll need feedback on how you get on.
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Stunning - thanks Sally, I don't know how I missed that one when I searched before?
Fleecewife - Early November it is then - probably when the other tup goes off to work. He'll still be very small I guess, so we'll probably do a home kill if we're going to do the skin ourselves too. Should still make a reasonably sized frisbee with any luck?
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Sounds fine - he'll fly long and high ;D
Womble, I love your "slugs - they can't run but they can hide". Makes me smile every time :thumbsup: