[twizzel]

Moses went to the big lamb heaven today. Out of 18 tame lambs we had this year he was my favourite. He had a reprieve last time we send some off in July on the basis that he definitely went off in August. He was jet black Texel x, had fantastic conformation a real nice stocky lamb.
He sealed his fate when he started jumping up behind me and putting his front feet on my shoulders! Not good... and he chewed my boot strap this morning and stood on my foot in the trailer as I loaded him. But I'm still a little bit sad!
So here ends this pointless post- I will never name another lamb again, and Moses if you're reading this in lamb heaven, I'm sorry!!
 
But he will taste blooming lovely though (he's not going in my freezer!)

[devonlad]

we try to avoid giving anything a name if its likely to be bound for the freezer which sort of works and sort of doesnt. we always name the ewes which we tend to keep,partly because we havent got loads of them and they are fairly tame and "our girls" and partly because it helps managing them. we can talk about Polly's lameness, or Lucy's scabby mouth and we know exactly which sheep we're talking about, we know which lambs are theirs, which ones they've had in the past and whilst to an outsider one sheep looks pretty much like another ours dont to us. we know each one and can easily identify her. we're now up to 12 ewes and still know who's who- will we at 50 ? or 100? not sure.  As a general rule its the ram lambs who dont get named, except they end up with a non-name, like Big Boy (always reserved for the biggest ram lamb each year,) or Ellie's brothet, or Limpy or Penny's Boy. we're well used to the fact that our cute little skipping boys end up heading for the abbatoir one day but it isnt always terribly easy. this year Ellie's brother was bottle fed along with his sister Ellie, and now at 5 months old is far too tame and follows us wherever he can.I'm sure the final day won't feel great but expect that the pain will ease once tucking into a gorgeously succulent and tasty leg of lamb.

[twizzel]

I haven't named any of our other lambs, nor did I name last years. Last year we had them killed at home so I saw the whole process from start to finish (they went in our own freezer). This year they have gone through an abbatoir. We are on a working farm and produce beef so everything is very matter of fact, the lambs are not pets. Moses just kind of stuck, we named him after a friend (long story) but as he was the odd one out being jet black, he was always a bit of an outcast in the flock!
Only got another 8 more to go... and by the time they have gone and we've got Christmas out of the way there will be more lambs here- the farmer we get them from lambs in January    (and in the mean time we have lots of yummy roast dinners    )

[EP90]

My first year of ‘sheep farming’ by starting off with 2 lambs.   I decided to be a bit aloof and called them by numbers as in one and two.  Then a neighbour recited a joke that probably everyone’s heard but me “ if you lose two you still have one, if you lose one you still have two”  Thankfully not lost either or both but getting close to slaughter.  Next year I’m increasing the number of lambs but I’ll still call them ‘numbers’ .  Just seems to be a bit less impersonal when it comes to their last day rather than not naming them at all..

[Fleecewife]

I have no problem whatsoever with naming my male lambs then eating them.  It started when we had just a handful of Jacobs, so there wouldn't be many going to the abattoir.  The slight mistake was naming the first batch after children in the family so we would be sitting down to eat our rellies     With so few it was easy to identify which carcase belonged to which lamb, so each bag in the freezer was named.  In fact that helped me to relate the quality of the meat to the general health and fitness of each lamb.
 
More recently we have had much greater numbers, so some get proper names, especially if we are hoping they will be registerable, and the others just get nick names (for example one was called 'wee 8@$t@3d', and another 'randy wee sod' but usually they're a bit nicer than that).  With so many I can usually now only pick out who's who when on the hook by largest, smallest, tallest etc, or occasionally if one had a health problem at some point it will be reflected in the quality of the meat.
So in that respect recognising animals individually helps with assessing the crop.
 
Not eating your own meat seems the oddest thing to me.  What's the point in raising meat animals on a tiny scale if they are not at least in part for your own consumption?  By rejecting them you are implying they are somehow disgusting, especially if you then go on to eat someone else's meat whose provenance you don't know.  If you are confident that you have raised your animals well, then you should put them in your own freezer and on your family's plate.  That's my opinion and I know there are lots of folk who will disagree with it.
 
I have said lots of times before that another reason for us to name our meat boys is to do with respect.  The animals we sacrifice for our needs deserve to have their lives acknowledged, and for them to be seen as individuals, not as just an anonymous slab of meat.  When we have had larger numbers so we can't identify individuals once ready for butchering, then we recall them as a particular group, which we will recall at dinner time with the occasional: 'remember when......'   We're not weirdo nature freaks of any kind, just country folk in tune with our animals, living at the pace they set.

We do also share a very black sense of humour 

[SallyintNorth]

It's a very individual thing, whether to name or not, eat or not.  My mother can't eat any animal she has had a physical relationship with - she says she completely gets and agrees with the logic that it will have had the best life any piece of meat could have had, so is the best meat to eat, but she simply can't do it if she knows she has met and talked to that animal.  Thankfully she is happy to eat its sibling that she didn't pet 

I'm in the Fleecewife camp, and generally prefer to have interacted with my meat animals as individuals, and for me that often means they've had a name, even if it's 'White face' or 'Top Knot'.  Not always though.  I can't say it's the named or not named that makes the difference when they go.  I am always sad on the day they go and for a few days afterwards, but I do get genuine comfort from the knowledge that I will be eating animals which have had the best of lives that I could give them, rather than an anonymous carcase sourced from who-knows-where.

[Foobar]

Some of mine get names, but only if I have call to refer to them, or they have a physical characteristic that stands out. Otherwise they are referred to by their number.  I agree with Fleecewife in that it's useful to be able to compare the quality of the meat to the live animal, without that you won't know how to improve your outputs.


We will be eating some of number 19 this evening .

[SallyintNorth]

We like to name all our suckler cows, but we have a lot of big black friendly girls - Angus crosses - who have few distinguishing characteristics. So some of them never get named and are referred to by their number.  Exceptions include Izzy - Kizzy Izzy - because she's a great big softee and always comes and leans her head against you for a fuss and Tw8y - her number is 280 but Tw8y is more of a name, somehow.  Poor old 706 is one of our best cows but she's always been plain old 706, even though she's friendly and a really good cow.

It's the only thing BH has got against the Angus bulls - most of their offspring are black all over with no distinguishing marks!

[Bionic]

Still unsure of what will happen to my ram lambs (Taffy and Tomos, yes I have named them). Although they have been registered they might go for meat. If that happens I also want to send their skins off for rugs.
People I have spoken to think it will be strange to walk on something that I have brought up and named but I think its more a celebration of their lives and how well I have brought them up. Am I weird?

[SallyintNorth]

People I have spoken to think it will be strange to walk on something that I have brought up and named but I think its more a celebration of their lives and how well I have brought them up. Am I weird?

Not to me, but as I said, I think it's all very individual.

[Fleecewife]

Still unsure of what will happen to my ram lambs (Taffy and Tomos, yes I have named them). Although they have been registered they might go for meat. If that happens I also want to send their skins off for rugs.
People I have spoken to think it will be strange to walk on something that I have brought up and named but I think its more a celebration of their lives and how well I have brought them up. Am I weird?

I don't put my sheepskin rugs on the floor, just on the furniture (or in the bed when my OH was at risk of pressure sores).  And they keep their names  when they are rugs 
 
Of course you're not weird Sally    no more than me anyway 

[devonlad]

Not eating your own meat seems the oddest thing to me.  What's the point in raising meat animals on a tiny scale if they are not at least in part for your own consumption?  By rejecting them you are implying they are somehow disgusting, especially if you then go on to eat someone else's meat whose provenance you don't know.  If you are confident that you have raised your animals well, then you should put them in your own freezer and on your family's plate.  That's my opinion and I know there are lots of folk who will disagree with it.
 
I have said lots of times before that another reason for us to name our meat boys is to do with respect.  The animals we sacrifice for our needs deserve to have their lives acknowledged, and for them to be seen as individuals, not as just an anonymous slab of meat.  When we have had larger numbers so we can't identify individuals once ready for butchering, then we recall them as a particular group, which we will recall at dinner time with the occasional: 'remember when......'   We're not weirdo nature freaks of any kind, just country folk in tune with our animals, living at the pace they set.

We do also share a very black sense of humour 

Nothing to add other than I just thought that was beautifully put

[twizzel]

Not eating your own meat seems the oddest thing to me.  What's the point in raising meat animals on a tiny scale if they are not at least in part for your own consumption?  By rejecting them you are implying they are somehow disgusting, especially if you then go on to eat someone else's meat whose provenance you don't know.  If you are confident that you have raised your animals well, then you should put them in your own freezer and on your family's plate.  That's my opinion and I know there are lots of folk who will disagree with it.
 

Sorry you misunderstood what I said... I already have 1/2 in the freezer from this year and another half going in from the last batch we send off... I have no problem eating it, it's the main reason we rear lamb as it's so bloody expensive in the butchers, we would never be able to afford it otherwise.

[Bramblecot]

I don't put my sheepskin rugs on the floor, just on the furniture (or in the bed when my OH was at risk of pressure sores).  And they keep their names  when they are rugs 
 
Of course you're not weird Sally    no more than me anyway 

Me too.  Some of our visitors look aghast  when I say I am cuddling up to Freddie on the settee - but I will never forget him and he is a great comforter.  Little black Zebedee went to the hospice as a comfort to my aunt when she was dying and her grand-daughter asked if she could keep him afterwards.    Most of my customers like to know the names of their rugs. 

[Fleecewife]

Sorry Twizzel    - I wasn't meaning to get at anyone.  I just climb on my soapbox sometimes 
 
 
When I reread what I wrote:  <<Not eating your own meat seems the oddest thing to me.  What's the point in raising meat animals on a tiny scale if they are not at least in part for your own consumption?>>  it could be read as me getting at you personally, but I promise I meant the 'you' as 'one' not 'twizzle'