[Bumblebear]

I have looked around an dcan't seem to find anyone who rears lambs on the same principle as pigs i.e. buy a weaned animal to fatten up then send for meat.  Can one rear lambs in this way?

I don't fancy getting into the breeding thing (yet) and don't think I have enough space for full time sheep (we have an acre).

Thanks in advance for your replies

Sharon

[hexhammeasure]

spring lambs do better with their mothers the milking process will go on longer with sheep. some people do buy cade lambs or spare lambs and rear with artificial milk tho

[Bumblebear]

We have goats and I heard that goats milk was good for lambs.  What age would you get them?  Do you still need 2?  How long would you keep a meat lamb? 

[Fleecewife]

There is a lot about this on other threads.  With pigs, once you wean the litter the sow goes back to get in-pig again.  With most breeds of sheep, they only lamb once a year, so there is no advantage to the farmer to wean them early for you to rear.  Many breeds go for slaughter straight off their dams.  This leaves the alternative of buying orphaned lambs - either genuinely orphaned because their dams have died, or lambs which would be bottle fed because they are the third of triplets.  Reading through the posts you will see that there are many problems associated with rearing these lambs, and their viability depends very much on the source ie if they have been reared to the point where you buy them by someone who has made sure they have had adequate colostrum and good care, or if you get ones which have not had that beginning.  It seems to be pretty much pot luck, unless you know someone you trust.
A possible alternative would be to take weaned lambs ie 4 months old, of a slower maturing breed, and raising them to slaughter weight.  This could be anything from a few months to a whole year.

[kitchen cottage]

I buy in lambs each year and slaughter in October.  They are a mixture of orphans and overstock from a city farm. 
 
However, i breed my own pig! 
 
Am I doing this a different way to everyone else?
 
 
 
 

[Bumblebear]

I buy in lambs each year and slaughter in October.  They are a mixture of orphans and overstock from a city farm. 

That's the kind of thing I was thinking.  How many do you have and how much land do you have and how do you feed them (bottle I'm presuming)...<breathe>and...and....and 

[Bumblebear]

Ive just been offered 2 x llyen lambs from a local petting farm that will go to market next Tuesday if I don't want them.  Sounds just like what I need   I'd rather give them a good home first.

[kitchen cottage]

I don't do any of the hard stuff... they come to me once they are hand reared.  I have 3 acres and have 7 young rams... they go to slaughter before they are any trouble.
 
At the moment there is so much grass they don't really need many Sheep nuts.
 
I keep one breeding sow (Charlotte)and breed off her once a year.  This year... due to popular demand of friends and family.... I will buy in some Saddleback/Tamworth crosses from the city farm.  I am also keeping one of Charlotte's current litter to act as a second breeding sow.... Charlotte and her litter are all together now but I will split them in 2 weeks into gilts and boars to avoid any little "accidents" .....
 
The new x's are now about 3 weeks old and I'll collect as late as possible... I haven't quite worked out where to keep them!!
 
I am an ABSOLUTELY TOTAL AMATEUR I work full time and this is just a hobby that I enjoy.   I really wouldn't claim to have any expertise on any of it.... it keeps friends fed and I have an informal "work in kind" arrangement with others as a result thoug 
 
 

[twizzel]

I hand reared 6 orphan lambs this year. Had the distinct advantage that last year I worked in a farm park that had 35 orphan lambs so kind of knew what I was doing! Our 6 are super but not without problems- 1 had a eye problem that left her blind (sorted that through some eye drops we had left over from the dog, it was either going to work or not and luckily it did), 1 refused to drink after a week so had to force feed him for quite some time, 1 got pneumonia twice so had antibiotics from vet (luckily he dispensed them without call out fee as they are the vets for the farm and know my boyfriend's family very well). Oh and 1 had the runs badly. However all 6 are still with us and thriving now! It's not an easy way of having your own lamb but I have a quiet time work wise between Nov and April so ideal to give me something to do

[Bumblebear]

We have about 1/3 acre not being used (and the odd bits of the garden which hubby will releived not to have to mow!)  Will that be enough to rear 2 x meat lambs?  I'm happy to buy in hay/sheep nuts if i have to.  They are 4mths old now - so I'm guessing we'll have them until Sept/Oct time for lamb; is that right?


 

[Bramblecot]

You can keep them for as long as you like  - it depends on their condition when they will be 'ideal weight'.  Just confirm with the abattoir well in advance - it is not always easy to get them booked in especially in the run-up to Christmas.

[sabrina]

I have been rearing lambs for our freezer for a few years, some go in September and have been graded well but i have also let them go through the winter till January/March and they also turned out very good.

[Blacksheep]

We have sold several ram weaned ram lambs this year to people who want them to graze small paddocks over the summer and then to fill their freezer in the autumn.  Different breeds will finish at different ages, and then there will be variation within a breed. Our breed (Zwartbles) has a leaner carcass so can be grown on to a heavy weight if desired.
Good luck with your lambs

[Mallows Flock]

I would just like to add a little jug-half-empty note.....
Taking on newly weaned cade lambs is not as easy necessarily as one thinks... this year I have many aquaintances who have bought just weaned lambs who 2 weeks or so later have been struck down with Coccidia due to the stress of weaning/market/transportation/ random weather etc.  This is quite an upsetting and expensive process to deal with (in my humble opinion) and is very common with weaned cades. I personally would be more inclined to take cades very young (on the bottle well and after taking colostrum) and bottle feed them right up to 10 weeks offering creep and grass/hay from week 1 but it is easy to get very attached to these and not want them to go to slaughter as well as being expensive milk wise (Lamlac etc costs a bomb ), or I would buy some non cades at market who havan't reached weight (30+ kilos or so) so are pretty cheap and raise them on grass all through to Oct time.
 As for grass amount needed, all you can do is keep an eye on it and see how it is. Sometimes we have LOADS of grass with sun and rain prolific yet some really dry summers we struggle to have enough grass and have to supplement a little with hay. A mineral lick would also be needed to ensure they get all the nutrients they need.
Hope that helps some
Lisa x

[sokel]

We got 5 orphans off a local farmer, this is the first year we have done it.
we do have 6 milking goats though
4 where on a bucket the smaller one was on a bottle. All 5 are doing well and all are as big as the lambs in the fields with their mothers.
We have loved doing it and would never have any doubts about doing it again.
Have to admit they can be a pain when they decided to help us feed the other animals  but thats part of the fun