[Foobar]

We sent our entire boys at 18 months old, and the feedback has been very positive - lovely flavour and lean.
 
Our vet recons the meat is leaner if you leave them entire.
 
A well respected breeder we know also recons that if the ram hasn't "pleasured" a ewe then there will be no taint as the hormones have not entered the body? ?

I think it's to do with when you kill them, I think it would need to be out-of-season so to speak, so when the majority of the ewes are not in season.  Feb-Aug I would say.


I've just got back an 18 month old entire BWM ram that has been hanging at the butchers for a week.  I was worried that he would be too fat as he was very chunky, although I could still feel his spine etc.  He's actually come out quite nicely, and he tastes lush.  If I had more land I think I would run more on for hogget.
(actually this ram was a short scrotum castrate, but in reality he's still got his balls so has all his hormones etc)


I think it is true that wethers put on fat more easily, I certainly have seen this in mine.

[Tim W]

I sell to Sainsburys and as far as I know there is no regulation set about mutilations---however they get 450+ entire rams off me every year , this year I sent 200 in April when they were a year old with no complaints.
None of my lambs are tail docked as it just isn't necessary if you have shedding/cleanskin sheep (there is not enough wool on the tails for the muck to cling to)
There is proposed EU legislation 'in the wings' banning sheep mutilation without anaesthetic

There are quite a few breeds with shorter tails and there is often variation in tail length within breeds, where there is variation you can select so getting sheep with short tails is not going to be that hard

[SteveHants]

I sell to Sainsburys and as far as I know there is no regulation set about mutilations---however they get 450+ entire rams off me every year , this year I sent 200 in April when they were a year old with no complaints.
None of my lambs are tail docked as it just isn't necessary if you have shedding/cleanskin sheep (there is not enough wool on the tails for the muck to cling to)
There is proposed EU legislation 'in the wings' banning sheep mutilation without anaesthetic

Seems I'm wrong then, cos I'd swear it was you who told me that Sainsburys like them entire/not docked. 


Oops.

[TheCaptain]

I had three of my Portland hoggets done last year with the intention of selling on the meat and keeping one for ourselves. They were so delicious that we kept all of the meat ourselves. These boys were 18 months old, slaughtered on the july. The butcher mentioned they were lean with not much fat on - surely that was the best way but not something Joe public would be interested in. I've got six going next week - can't wait to get them back!!!!!

[Marches Farmer]

We take on a couple of March born entires for meat each year - those not suitable for breeding go to the livestock market as stores for someone with more land than us to grow on.  We take them in at the end of November and keep them out of sight and sound of all females for the final month.