[Arabus]

Hi all, I'm very new to sheep keeping and despite reading a few books and being quite experienced with goats and other livestock, I have already made a few mistakes, and now have a number of questions.
Firstly:
I have 6 Black Welsh ram lambs, aged 6 - 8 months and weighing 19 - 32kgs.
I would like to take the 3 heaviest to slaughter asap, but know they're a bit small.
Please can anyone advise me on the likely meat yield for lambs of 30 -32kgs live weight?
Thanks in advance.....

[Tim W]

Bit of a guess as I don't know Black Welshies that well but ---

My small lambs are killing out at 46% --that is liveweight/deadweight , which is just to a carcase hanging before it is butchered
These would be 36kg liveweight & 16kg dead ---once these are cut and some bone is lost you may get down to a 14kg lamb carcase

I would think your Black Welshies will have a poorer conformation than my more commercial animals so the kill out may be less?

So a 32kg Blackie may give 12kg of butchered lamb? bit of a guess but may give you some idea?

[Arabus]

That's great, thank you.
Do you think 3 days hanging is enough (not to have to make a third trip to the abbattoir, offal has to be collected within 3 days)?
Do you get your lambskins cured?
And do you know if it's possible to have the horns returned (my dad fancies them for walking stick handles!)?

[lachlanandmarcus]

3 days hanging works v well for my Shetlands so would think good too for your WMs.


I have been able to get horns back tho have needed to request this in advance and remind them.


From memory at our slaughterhouse you can get lamb skins for curing but you have to collect day of slaughter as they have to start the processes quickly.

[twizzel]

Our commercial lambs are hung for 2 days and lovely and tender. Killed first thing Tuesday morning and we normally pick them up Thursday lunch time from the butcher.
 

[Foobar]

I keep BWMs and yes you can get 46% KO if they are well grown, but if they are smaller then you may only get low 40s.  I don't send my until they are 35kg, ideally more like 38kg.  I have mine hung for a week as it intensifies the flavour, but 3 days will be okay.
You won't be able to do much with lambs horns, they will be too thin, and you may not be able to get them back.  Skins you should be able to get back but you may be asked if you are registered with AH to receive category 3 waste products (its just a matter of applying on a form and explaining that you want to keep them to be tanned, but you'd need this in advance - ask the abattoir when you book them in if they require this).
Keep your small lambs back and run them on as hoggs.  Their taste will be far superior next spring/summer.  If I had the space I wouldn't kill any as lambs, I'd do them all as hogget as it's just so lush!

[Bramblecot]

Hi , My neighbour keeps BWM and I think he reckons a 30kg lamb will give you approx 13-14kg of meat.  If it is for yourself and friends, this will be fine, although it will not be as 'meaty' as you may see in the butchers.  Ours are hung for 4-5 days.  One tip, make sure they are not fed for a few hours before you transport them or you may not get back the offal as they will be 'full' and the staff will not thank you.

Re the skins.  You must ask the abbattoir before you take them in - it is no good asking on the day as they will be too busy to process them.  You can possibly wait while they are slaugtered and collect the skins immediately.  Be aware, it is a bit grim - warm and bloody.  Take large plastic sacks to put them in.  You need to put at least 1kg of salt on the back of each skin as soon as possible (within 2 hours).  When you get them home you let them drain, and keep replenishing the salt to dry them.  When they are lighter, you can post to the tannery.

[Arabus]

Hi  Thank you all for the replies. The information is very helpful.
I was planning on keeping the small ones longer (so it's good to know that they'll be even better as hoggets) but as I really would like a few lambskins (and can't wait to taste the lamb) I'll try to get some more weight on the bigger ones a bit quick. They're on longish grass, some of which has got quite stemmy, but most is lush, and I plan to drench them in the next few days with AH supplement.
What would be the best feed to finish them on please?
I see I need to give more thought to horns and skin, so thanks again!

[Foobar]

Contact your tannery first ... you might find that you won't get the skins in time this year, I think the cut-off for hill breeds is the start of December.  (They start to moult you see, not that it's visible on the live animal, once its gone past a certain date there is a risk that the wool will just fall out during the tanning process.)

[lachlanandmarcus]

Primitive breeds are very difficult to get to fatten once the goodness has gone in the grass, however much you pump into them. Normally they are kept over the winter as stores and fattened on the spring grass. It's just the way their metabolism works (same as them storing fat round the organs more than under the skin).


Soo....if it were me I would get them gone if they are going now, rather than trying to fatten them.

[Arabus]

Thank you!
That settles it, the big ones asap!
2 of the smaller ones are looking like they want shearing, rubbing themselves on the fences and hooking bits off wool off each others necks/shoulders with their horns, but the best one feels tight and firm, is that any indication that his skin would be OK?
I will ring the tannery today to ask about dates, if I'm too late, I think I'll have a go at home, I can always use the wool for spinning then if it falls out ..?

[Anke]

Thank you!
That settles it, the big ones asap!
2 of the smaller ones are looking like they want shearing, rubbing themselves on the fences and hooking bits off wool off each others necks/shoulders with their horns, but the best one feels tight and firm, is that any indication that his skin would be OK?
I will ring the tannery today to ask about dates, if I'm too late, I think I'll have a go at home, I can always use the wool for spinning then if it falls out ..?

If they are rubbing themselves get them checked (by the vet if you are inexperienced) for sign of any of the following.: lice, mange, scab and do it quickly. If they have any kind of external parasites you will not be able to do anything with the skins I think. If you need to treat for scab or anything like that you will have lengthy withdrawal times for meat, so maybe need to keep at least a couple of months longer.

Not sure I would want to spin wool that has been falling out of dead skin...