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Author Topic: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette  (Read 5118 times)

Pundyburn Lynn

  • Joined May 2012
Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« on: May 20, 2014, 02:41:47 pm »
About rams...  we're just starting with a couple of garden ewes to keep the lawn down.  But we've been offered a soay ram to fatten for autumn.  I'm quite intrigued, I must say, but utterly clueless as to how to arrange and price the slaughter.
 
It is common etiquette to call up the local abattoir to ask for information?  Can they collect?  How much do they usually charge?  (Probably Dunblane - Duncan Stevenson)  Is a solitary soay ram worth our while?
 
Lynn

Porterlauren

  • Joined Apr 2014
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2014, 03:27:26 pm »
Ring them and ask what days they slaughter and how much they charge etc, they are a business just like any other and will probably be most helpful. With a single animal, you will probably need to take it in, and it will probably be better for the animal also.

With regard to if it's worth it . . . . well, you get a lamb in your freezer that you have reared on, at a decent cost, and get to try a 'minority' meat, and see what you think.

I'd do it.

But then again, you may get a bit attached to the one.

Me

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • Wild West
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2014, 03:48:06 pm »
Don't give it a name.

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2014, 04:01:01 pm »
Make sure it's a wether and not a ram(tup) lamb..... if his companions are girls. You won't get much meat on a Soay by autumn, they are best run through for another summer, and even then you are not getting much above 20odd kgs in meat... so it depends on what you want, if you have other sheep to stay over winter, can get hay for them etc etc... on balance IMO - not worth it.

fiestyredhead331

  • Joined Sep 2012
  • NW Highlands
    • Facebook
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2014, 04:02:57 pm »
we send single sheep down occasionally, local abattoir are very helpful and deliver them back up a week or so later nicely packaged in a box  :thumbsup:

but i think there is a rule about the underside and tail of the sheep has to be cleaned/clipped before you send them down, or there is with our abattoir anyway  ???
keeper of goats, sheep, pigs, ducks, chickens, turkeys, dogs, cats, goldfish and children, just don't ask me which is the most work!

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2014, 04:06:05 pm »
I got about 55kgs usable meat in total from 4 Castlemilk Moorit wethers.  Our butcher charged £24/animal for kill and cut; we took them to the abattoir and collected the boxed meat from the butchers.

Soays will be a little smaller than CMs, I think.  Kill and cut costs are per animal, not per kilo, so the smaller the animal the more per kilo it costs.

But it's still a heck of a lot cheaper than butcher, supermarket and farmers' market, and will taste superb :)   :yum:


Make sure it's a wether and not a ram(tup) lamb..... if his companions are girls. You won't get much meat on a Soay by autumn, they are best run through for another summer, and even then you are not getting much above 20odd kgs in meat... so it depends on what you want, if you have other sheep to stay over winter, can get hay for them etc etc... on balance IMO - not worth it.

I'd assumed it was a 2013 lamb, so would be ready to go at 18 months this autumn, before it gets hormonal.  If not then yes you definitely need it to be castrated!  It'll be too small to eat but not too young to work at 6 months!!   :o
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

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2014, 04:11:25 pm »
It's worth checking the abattoir can do a Soay as they're so small sometimes their equipment can't cope.  Definitely needs to wait til at least 16 months, but I have kept Soays for an extra again year to about 30 months, so they do need to be wethered. Gigots are surprisingly meaty by that age for such a tiny thing and yes, completely tasty.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Pundyburn Lynn

  • Joined May 2012
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2014, 04:47:00 pm »
Yes, it'll be 18 months by then.  Will it need to be castrated by that age?

Young Ed

  • Joined Apr 2014
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2014, 05:40:27 pm »
Yes, it'll be 18 months by then.  Will it need to be castrated by that age?
if it is to be kept with females and you don't want little ones coming on then yes it must be castrated if it lives on till 18 months
Cheers Ed

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2014, 07:29:11 pm »
Yes, it'll be 18 months by then.  Will it need to be castrated by that age?

So if he's over a week old by now you cannot legally rubber-band him,  but I think Soays are unlikely to have big enough nuts by one week old... If the vet has to castrate surgically later it will make an expensive few meals...

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Abattoirs - rules and etiquette
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2014, 10:52:17 pm »
I fight the corner for not ringing Soays within the first week.  Their tessies are so tiny that even if you can get the ring on, one or both may well pop back through, or the ring may catch one across the middle, causing untold pain.  The one week rule is a fairly arbitrary choice to help reduce discomfort to the lamb.  However, in the case of Soays an early ringing is likely to make the pain and distress worse.  'The cruelty' can come and get me if they want, but I will support the contention. 3 weeks is a more successful time to ring Soays.

However, it sounds as if this ram is at least weaned if not older, in which case he needs to be castrated by a vet, or kept separately from ewes.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2014, 10:54:10 pm by Fleecewife »
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

 

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