[Raine]

 
As we have just had our first lamb (other two ewe's are still crossing their legs), I was wondering if people named them.


We do fully intend to take our lambs to slaughter, unless a suitable home could be found for them.  As they will be un-registered, I would suspect they would not have many takers.  I'm hoping to ask our local farmer to give us a hand castrating any ram lambs we have this weekend.


Everyone outside of smallholding has told us never to name anything we intend to eat, but (so far) I haven't had any problems (only poultry so far though).


Any suggestions?

[JMB]

We never meant to name ours, but last year we had puppy, stick, little big horn, happy lamb, biffy and popeye. They kind of grew in to their names.
So far this year we just have panda and the plastic twins ( they had plastic macs on)
J xxxxx

[Toe]

Personally I prefer to name all animals we have, I don't see how it makes any difference. My orphan lambs I bottle fed when I was 15 were called Thombi and Theo, I was sad when they went and thought it a little mean when my mum made a point of telling us who's leg or shoulder we were enjoying each roast dinner, but I wouldn't have it any other way. All our pigs so far have been named, and our home bred lambs this year will be too. Go for it, the trip to the abattoir won't be any better if the animals are anonymous and you will enjoy them more if you give them names.

[cluckyclaire]

I name everyone - my OH gets annoyed by me doing it tho!! This years lambs are Ebony, Ivory, Cassie (short for casserole!), Rosemary and Garlic (also had belly and leg but unfortunately they succumbed to watery mouth and lost their mum to twin lamb - it was a very bad start to lambing this year). Like to try and keep to foodie names if there is a chance I could end up eating them but running out of lamb related names these days! (And the most likely candidates for the freezer this year are ebony and ivory as they are the only boys so the food names didn't work there!!)

[Rosemary]

We name the females but not the males. It's a T year or Ryelands - so we have Tilly, Tilda, Treacle, Tansy, Twinkle and Trixie. Two sets of twins to come :-)

[Bionic]

I name mine.  I have Taffy, Tina and Tilly. I don't know their fate yet but whatever it is I would still name them.


I had 2 weaners last year which went off for meat. They both had names. I pick up 2 more tomorrow and they will have names too.

[Fleecewife]

Yes we name all of ours.  Some go on to be registered and they may or may not keep their everyday names as their posh ones.  When we sell any breeding quality ewes and tups on, they may or not have their names used by the next owner.  Somehow the lambs seem to acquire their names just by being like them.  This year we have only named Pedro the first lamb born, as I haven't got close enough to the twins born today yet - a ewe and a tup.  This tup will be for meat so may have to wait for a name until he has horns, as that tends to suggest a name.
 
I hate the idea of treating a living animal as if it's already a slab of meat, by deliberately not naming them.  It's to do with respect for their life.  I could never be a commercial scale sheep keeper and send my lambs off in batches according to their weight.  That just wouldn't sit right with me, but I am perfectly happy to send off our surplus males, and the occasional female when the time comes.  They have a lovely life here for 16 months before they go, then when they get to the abattoir they are dead before they know what's happened.   We appreciate every bite of the wonderful meat we get from them and try to waste none.
 
So yes - give them all names 

[twizzel]

Nope don't name them, apart from this year I named our jet black lamb Moses, it kind of stuck and I won't be able to eat him now    so he'll go in my parents freezer! Likewise the only cow to have a name is the bull.

[ScotsGirl]

Wish I could think of names. My ewes have daft ones like 'black knees', skinny, scruffy...  As only way I can identify them. Still trying to think of goat names 

[Pedwardine]

I've found naming the boys makes it harder as you wonder 'who' you're eating when you tuck into your Sunday roast. Even nicknaming makes it harder when the slaughterhouse beckons.
I name my ewe lambs I intend to keep for breeding/selling on. On 'G' names this year. So far have a Grace, a Golly and Gosh(sisters) and a Gabbi (closest to Gobby as very vocal which may have been a bit unkind!).

[VSS]

Giving them names doesn't have any adverse effect on the flavour

[LouiseG]

We name all ours, it's easier to say a name than try to describe a specific animal when OH or children need a specific instruction about one in particular. The cars all have names too 

[sokel]

This is our second year with lambs and the smallest that needed that little bit extra TLC get names, last year it was Donald , this year its Geofrey   

[SallyintNorth]

We name all ours, it's easier to say a name than try to describe a specific animal when OH or children need a specific instruction about one in particular.

This.


Although with 300-ish breeding ewes we can't name all the lambs or even all their mothers, but most of the bottle-reared ones and a few other distinctive ones get named.

Anything grand-nephew names is likely to be a friend of Thomas the Tank Engine - we all loved his choice of 'Diesel' for the runty - but very fit and full-of-life - grey Shetland x tup lamb. 

Names are often descriptive - 'Pan' has one black eye (half a Panda); 'Green Spot' was marked so we'd know which lamb to take back out when he was used to help drink out an overful udder; 'Jacket' still has his on so we can tell him from 'Black Nose' and friends; 'Stinky Mouth' has a bad case of orf and has to live on her own till it clears up - she drinks Jersey milk as the lamb milk really stings on broken flesh; 'Shy Girl' wouldn't drink if any other lambs were watching (she's getting over it now); one year we had 'Snotter' who recovered, though with residual problems , from pneumonia; and so on.

My favourite, I think, remains, a teeny little Swaledale ewe lamb on the moorland farm.  She needed topping up at first while her first-time mum came into her milk.  I named her Violet Elizabeth for the racket she would make until her needs were met - and Violet Elizabeth, in full, she remained all her life.    

[Anke]

Most of our sheep have names, even often it is "Swaley's daughter" and then "Swaley's daughters son" etc. Our pedigree animals get names, chosen by my daughters. First letter same as dam's. We don't have a problem eating any though, especially the boys that won't make the grade...
 
All female goats get names (and registered), all boys so far don't have names, other than descriptive so we know who we are talking about.
 
Pigs only ever have descriptive names, as in "Blaze" or "spotty ears".
 
All taste great - name or no name!