[Thyme]

I'm getting ready to ring up Cig Oen Caron abbatoir in Tregareon to book in my first sheep.  I know some of you here use them and have said they are very helpful, but I have lots of beginner questions so I thought I might ask here first and possibly save them a bit of time on the phone with me

1) I'll need to get the sheep in the night before with no food and just water, is that correct?  I assume it's okay for them to be on straw and they won't eat it or won't eat enough of it to matter?

2) What should I expect/ask for in terms of hanging and butchery?  It'll be two cull ewes and two hogget rams.  I don't know much about choices of cuts or have strong preferences (yet).  Is there a default to ask for?

3) Will I be able to know which meat came from which sheep?

Thanks for any information!

[Me]

Hi Thyme, I know the chap running the show there and dropped some sheep there the other day, will PM you my number

[Thyme]

Thanks Me, phone call was very helpful.

[Kimbo]

Oh No!! I was waiting to hear the answers as Ive got all the same questions!
Can one of you please paraphrase for me?
I have another question. Do the sheep you send to the abbatoir need to be cleaned up in any special way? Dagged? Feet cleaned?

[Herdygirl]

They need to be clean.  No muck.  The usual routine is to take them the night before.  They will be given water but no food and slaughtered first thing in the morning.  Some slaughterhouses insist on their tummies being sheared, mine is happy to take them unsheared as they are always clean.  Auction marts usually want their tummies sheared and often there will be someone there to shear them for a small fee if you can't do it yourself

[Thyme]

Paraphrase:

Yes, keep overnight in pen with straw and only water, no food.  They will eat a bit of the straw but not enough to matter.

Hanging will probably be for a week (or Monday to Friday), no need to ask for specific, they will do the reasonable thing.

Butchery, several options, good idea to ask for lots of variety, small cuts (although with Shetlands that's not really an issue).  Option for individual vac pacs costs a little more but is easier to manage than getting one big sack of meat.

Best way to tell which meat came from which sheep is by weight, the meat will be in per sheep batches but not labeled by ear tag -- so weigh them before they go.

[Bionic]

The abattoir at Tregarron is where I go too and Neil is very good with us smallholders. He understands that we can sometimes get upset, last time he asked me if I was ok and for the first time I was 
I take mine in first thing in the morning, usually about 7am, having kept them from food the previous evening. No rules that I am aware of about shaving tummies etc.
I have always given a list of cuts I want done, having looked at pictures of butchering cuts online. I have recently 'cleaned' my pc so don't have the old list to send you unfortunately. On the top of the list I put my name, phone no and flock no. Last time he phoned as he was butchering as something wasn't clear. If there are only 2 of you make sure you ask for small cuts, as was previously mentioned. I usually say on my list joints to feed 4 as we have them for a couple of days. I think its worth paying for the vac pac as it can just go straight into the freezer when you get home.
Let us know how you get on and don't forget your movement forms
 

[Foobar]

Get your loins boned and rolled - mutton/hogget chops/cutlets are a bit too fatty.

[Marches Farmer]

We've sometimes had lamb burgers made, which barbecue quite well.

[Bionic]

The last lambs I had done were quite small so I asked for a whole one to be turned into mince. I had one big bag of mince which I then vac packed myself and froze in 500g portions.
Great for shepherdspie, mousaka, burgers etc

[waterbuffalofarmer]

I use that abattoir all the time, I know the guy quite well actually, the best abattoir I have ever used.  I usually keep my animals in a clean shed and I trim em up and clean and tidy them. I take them about 6-7 am, usually. I ask for all the joints to be halved, so you don't have a roast a whole piece and it saves cooking time.

[GeorgieB82]

We have been using Neil for several years and he is very accommodating and helpful; if you aren't sure about anything he's always happy to answer questions.

[Victorian Farmer]

Good read thank you