[cfegower]

Hello, we are a community group near swansea, that have Buelah sheep and pedigree Shetland sheep.

We have 6 pedigree shetland ram lambs born and only one ewe lamb.( also got half shetland buelah ram lamb) We are looking at the options now- the main one is to slaughter the Ram lambs (and eat them!), Would anyone be interested in swapping ram lambs for ewes/ or buying ram lambs/ - if swap it doesnt necessaryly have to be shetland sheep - we have a meeting monday so could discuss options then Thanks Ceri
P.s all rams are complete and they are all Katmogets various greys/ fawny/ moorit colours

[shygirl]

eat them and enjoy them 

[Anke]

You are unlikely to find someone wanting to swap pedigree ewe lambs for tup lambs at a young age - you need to see how they are growing up to see if they have breeding value.

So I would have already castrated them (with rubber band in the 1st seven days) and let them grow until 16 -18 months old minimum - they make excellent hogget their second autumn.

[jaykay]

But if you've left it too late, you can still grow them to hoggs and send them to he butchers then. I don't castrate mine, you just need to make sure you have a separate, secure field for them, and butcher them before or after the tupping season, to avoid meat taint.

[Bramblecot]

Jaykay,  I have left my Shetland ram lambs entire this year but am concerned about taint in the meat.  When would you regard it ok to send them on please? (sorry for hijack ).

[jaykay]

I'm just doing it by guesswork, but I avoid sending them while the tups would be busy, so maybe late Oct - Feb, presuming that the testosterone will be higher then? I suppose that'll depend where in the country you are?

I used to send my Rough Fell entire tup lambs in early Oct and never had a problem with meat taint from them.

[Bramblecot]

Thank you.  They will be split away from the ewes in July

[Ladygrey]

I have alot of shetland males this year, I castrated anything that was a twin and kept single rams entire (as they grow quicker)

They are all promised to a local butcher as well as all my crossbred male lambs (and meatlinc female lambs)

I am now regretting leaving any shetland lambs entire as I still dont think they would be ready until after christmas anyway, oh well, will see how they go

[cfegower]

Thanks for the replys- I  had heard of the meat taint , but thought it was when they became sexually mature (and then all the time)- not just at tupping time so that is great,  --- if anyone has got any sheep near us, we would like to hear about them and would possibly be in the market for others/different breeds. thanks again

[Fowlman]

This year i left my shetland ram lambs entire and now wondering if that was a good idea but they should grow quicker, it's only two and one is sold hopefully but the other is destined for the freezer.

[jaykay]

I don't send mine to the butchers til they're 18 months old.

[shygirl]

we had a few 4 yr old heb rams slaughtered - they should have gone much much earlier but other reasons stopped them leaving - i got them killed for the dogs thinking they would taste awful, but actually the meat was very good, and not too strong at all considering, so we did eat a fair bit ourselves.
i was just cross i wasnt allowed their fantastic horns back from the abattoir - try as i might their vet wouldnt let me have them.

[madcat]

Shy girl were you given any reason for them refusing to part with the horns?

[FiB]

Oooo - as a Beulah keeper interested in crosses that might have good fleece - what does Beulah x Shetland turn out like?

[shygirl]

Shy girl were you given any reason for them refusing to part with the horns?

i was adamant i wanted them as they were huge (and there was 4 matures rams) but they said the vet at the abattoir wouldnt let me as (cant quite remember now) they were either too close to the brain or had too much blood supply or something along those lines - ie it was a health risk to let me have them back.
i was wanting to make jewellery with them