Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: which breed for meat?  (Read 7791 times)

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #15 on: April 28, 2014, 12:35:51 pm »
If you are selling fat lambs through market you need to rear what sells well so probably more of a commercial breed, Texel, Lleyn Charolais etc. Go to your local market and see what breeds are there, most will be crosses but there's no point breeding fat lambs if they are not popular at your local market.

Young Ed

  • Joined Apr 2014
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #16 on: April 28, 2014, 09:31:38 pm »
If you are selling fat lambs through market you need to rear what sells well so probably more of a commercial breed, Texel, Lleyn Charolais etc. Go to your local market and see what breeds are there, most will be crosses but there's no point breeding fat lambs if they are not popular at your local market.
selling to private buyers already dead and butchered namely friends and family
Cheers Ed

Young Ed

  • Joined Apr 2014
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #17 on: May 07, 2014, 07:32:24 pm »
sorry back again!
the different specimens of these things  :sheep: still confuse me! not sure to get the romney or the lleyn? for 3 lambs would it be worth getting a shearer in just before slaughter in autum/early winter(before any chance of snow or even frost hopefully) would they have enough fleece on them? this is if i were to get romney.

when i get them slaughtered do i get the skin with fleece on back as standard or do i have to pay extra for this?
Cheers Ed

trish.farm

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • hampshire
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #18 on: May 07, 2014, 07:40:55 pm »
Why would you want to shear autumn/early winter?

When mine are home slaughtered i can keep whatever skins i want, Romney skins make amazing sheepskin rugs.  My slaughterman only gets £1 per skin from whoever he sells to so he is not bothered either way.  I keep the good skins with decent fleece on and let him take the rubbish ones away!

Young Ed

  • Joined Apr 2014
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #19 on: May 07, 2014, 09:30:50 pm »
Why would you want to shear autumn/early winter?

When mine are home slaughtered i can keep whatever skins i want, Romney skins make amazing sheepskin rugs.  My slaughterman only gets £1 per skin from whoever he sells to so he is not bothered either way.  I keep the good skins with decent fleece on and let him take the rubbish ones away!
it would be as i would be buying the lambs in in spring and then slaughtering autumn or early winter when i slaughter them
as i would be taking them to an abattoir i will just make make sure i get the skins back as we love sheep skins here and can probably sell at least one
do you tan them yourself? or who does this for you?
Cheers Ed

trish.farm

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • hampshire
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #20 on: May 07, 2014, 10:08:44 pm »
I sent mine to Devonia Products.  They are in North Devon but the closest to me in Hampshire, i think they are the only tannery in the south of England, unless anyone else on here knows of somewhere!?  I think it is about £26 per skin, plus postage.  The postage is the costly bit as they are so heavy when you send them.  You have to salt them before they are sent.  My house is full of sheepskin rugs, I sell a few, and also use them as wedding presents etc!!

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #21 on: May 07, 2014, 10:13:07 pm »
Normally the abattoir take the skins so you would need to ask if you can have them back, it's almost an unwritten rule that the abattoir keep the skins, we are never asked if we want ours back. If you want to tan the skins I think lambs have to be slaughtered by a certain date- down breeds by middle of oct latest and hill breeds by 1st Nov in the year that they were lambed so that is something to bare in mind if you're buying primitives.

Trish did you just ask your abattoir for the skins back? I'd quite like to get some of ours done but never know where to start.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2014, 10:15:19 pm by twizzel »

Young Ed

  • Joined Apr 2014
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #22 on: May 07, 2014, 10:24:56 pm »
Normally the abattoir take the skins so you would need to ask if you can have them back, it's almost an unwritten rule that the abattoir keep the skins, we are never asked if we want ours back. If you want to tan the skins I think lambs have to be slaughtered by a certain date- down breeds by middle of oct latest and hill breeds by 1st Nov in the year that they were lambed so that is something to bare in mind if you're buying primitives.
the slaughter dates and the fact it would probably be a hassle to get my skins back and then i would probably have to send the skins off and pay to have them tanned properly etc means it's hardly worth getting romney for the sake of the wool :(

well actually lets do some maths :) how much could i charge for a romney skin with wool on obviously? and how much does it cost to send skins off for tanning? rough figures is all i'm after?

so far as i have heard romney meat is as good as lleyn and vice versa?
Cheers Ed

trish.farm

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • hampshire
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #23 on: May 07, 2014, 10:28:38 pm »
I have mine home slaughtered so i wouldnt know about an abattoir, i do know that the skins are only worth about a pound though, so an abattoir should let you have them. 

Mine normally get slaughtered sept - oct time.  I have had skins tanned from jan slaughtering, they were fine, but tried an older ewe and that was rejected as the wool was too loose in the skin, that was a january one. 

trish.farm

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • hampshire
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #24 on: May 07, 2014, 10:34:09 pm »
You are not going to make your fortune selling a few sheepskin rugs unfortunately!!!  It costs approx £40 including postage both ways to get my skins tanned.  If i am lucky, and the rug is gorgeous, i can sell it for £60.  However, there are smaller, inferior sheepskin rugs for sale everywhere for around £30!!  I just look at it as an added £10 to £20 bonus on top of the lamb.  Also lovely to keep and to give as presents. 

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #25 on: May 07, 2014, 10:48:52 pm »
How do you know which to select to send for tanning? I presume they can't have any marker spray on? I might ask the abattoir next when I book some in if I can keep a couple of the skins, do you need to book them in with Devonia? I'd like to make some rugs/throws :)

trish.farm

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • hampshire
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #26 on: May 07, 2014, 11:05:34 pm »
I think the marker spray comes out in the tanning process but dont quote me on that!!  I go for the largest skins, which have a nice shape, no bald patches and a good even covering of wool.  If you are getting late into the season (winter!)  give the wool a good tug, if it comes away from the skin then its no good.  Check the underside of the skin, if there has been any flystrike or the lamb has been injured in anyway you will see damage to the skin, that is no good.  Also, take care when handling at slaughter, the same goes for the meat quality, lambs handled by pulling on the wool not only damages the meat but also the skin. 

Just give Devonia a ring, you can either deliver to them or post, depending on where you are!!  I just ring up and tell them i have posted for example 4 skins, 2 black and 2 white.  I always try and vacumn pack the skins in a bin liner, pushing out as much air so they get smaller and smaller!  then double bag them again in bin liners, then put in a postage plastic bag. 

Bramblecot

  • Joined Jul 2008
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #27 on: May 08, 2014, 11:12:07 am »
Ed, 
Our abattoir charges £5 each for the skins and they need to know beforehand that you want them for the tannery.  The salt needs to go on asap (within the hour preferably).  There is a bit of a technique to it, Devonia advised me at least 1kg per skin. 
The best time to send on the lambs or hoggets is in the autumn when the fleece is not matted and no more than about 4-5" long (it jams in the machines).  When I collected my last lot Devonia said a large % of the skins submitted after Xmas were being rejected.  It is really galling to lose them after all the hard work and waiting :( so pick your time.
Very happy with my last lot which I have recently received from Devonia, waiting time of approx 20 weeks.  I sell for £45 -75, the quality and size varies, so not a lot of profit but great for presents.  At our local ag. show they were selling beautiful skins for £45 but they are tanned in Poland.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: which breed for meat?
« Reply #28 on: May 08, 2014, 12:45:37 pm »
Ed, you would quite possibly be able to sell the fleece from Romney lambs clipped before slaughter.  Handspinners would be your target market.  Good Teeswater lambs' fleece sells for around £10-£15/kilo, so I don't see why nice Romney wouldn't fetch maybe £8-12/kilo.  I paid £30 for a lovely Teeswater lamb's fleece last year from a very reputable seller and would be happy to pay £20-£25ish for an equally nice Romney lamb's fleece.

You'd need to be good at selecting the ones that were worth selling, and skirting them well so that handspinners got - and paid for - only lovely fibre.  You would soon get a reputation if you did this well.

Lleyns wouldn't have enough staple length as lambs, I would have thought, but the Romney being a longwool there should be enough to make it worthwhile clipping.

Having said which, I had BH hand-shear my - wait for it - Shetland x Charollais x Beltex x Blue-faced Leicester x Swaledale tup lamb at 9 months old as he went for slaughter, and the fleece is just lovely.  :excited: :spin: :knit:


Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

 

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