[OhLaLa]

I really need to get the ram lamb (born Jan 2011) out of the field. He is still in with the girls (who are all in lamb and due from end this month). I don't have any other males he can go in with, so he needs to go to slaughter. He is bargey when the food appears each day, so I'm concerned for the unborn lambs - he needs to go asap.

The girls are due to lamb Jan - March, anyone got any idea when I can send him off? I don't want ram taint in the meat.

  

[Dougal]

By now the ram taint tends to be fading out and in young lads like him then it's is, more often than not, pretty faint anyway. In the commercial world ram lambs go through the slaughter house all the time, year round and are mixed with wethers and ewe lambs (often in the same batch from the same farm/market). They go on the supermarket shelves with all the rest with no problems from taint. So in answer to your question he can go whenever is most convinent to you. If you are not having him back for the freezer then it makes no difference at all anyway!

[daddymatty82]

depends how much meat on him but whenever you can get him to slaughter i would  do it. ring them up and see how soon they can get him in bet he would be booked in next week.whats he weigh now?

[OhLaLa]

Cheers for the info. I've booked him in (and yeah - next week - good guess!!). He is for our freezer, and as he's the first lad I've sent off I needed to double check re taint.

I have no way of weighing him, but to my eye he seems thinner than when he was tupping (is that usual?).

The girls are fairly clean and appear to me to be a good weight for lambing, but he sits in the muddiest patches and his tum/bum is proper grubby.

They are all on hard feed and hay now (with mineral lick), although the field is still green and not too poached (apart from around the field shelter).

He's a bargey fella, gets in a right mood if the bucket isn't down fast enough or if it's hay time and not the hard feed. Reverses up and butts whenever there is food about so I really have to keep an eye on him and stand my ground. The girls are advanced now and I want him out of there asap as he is pushy with them. You may remember I'm fairly new to sheep (2nd year of own flock) and still very much on the learning curve.

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys, all advice gratefully received.

 

[Rosemary]

I'm sure you'll enjoy him all the more for having been barged a few times - revenge is a dish best eaten.... roasted with garlic and rosemary 

[SallyintNorth]

You may need to clip his bum and belly - did the abbatoir mention it?  Generally this time of year, or anytime if the lambs are dirty, they want the under-midline and backside clipped and clean.

[OhLaLa]

Thought I'd let you know; just over 34kg meat weight came back (don't know what the average weight is).

Will let you know if any detectable taint once tasted!

PS: As a male, and a year old - is he what is classed as 'yearling mutton'?

 

[SteveHants]

I'd call it 'gimmer lamb' more or less.

[Fleecewife]

I'd call it 'gimmer lamb' more or less.

Weird - here a gimmer is female    I think that as a year old he would still qualify as lamb.  The next age up is hogget (usually about 18-24 months-ish) and not mutton until about 3, but the actual ages seem to vary depending on who is speaking.  Very complicated 

[SallyintNorth]

Here, last year's lambs are hoggs and sell as lambs.  In theory the slaughterhouse should check the teeth and remove all spinal material if there is any sign of 'big' teeth. 

Once the new season lamb is flowing in some numbers, then last season's hoggs stop being lamb, I guess - but I'm not sure.

I have been told that the French 'mouton' means 18- to 24-month old wether (can one of you in France confirm that or otherwise?) but we now seem to be using the term 'hogget' for this matured lamb meat, reserving mutton for old ewe (with yellow fat.)

[jaykay]

Here he'd be sold at the local pub as 'shearling lamb'!  - whatever that is 
Yes, with us gimmers are always female. If he were still 'on the hoof' he'd be a tup hogg.