[Sheep50]

Hi
I have the opportunity to buy some Soays but not sure of the best way to market the lambs when they are fat ? Does anyone have any ideas, I would prefer to sell them all at the market but wonder if they will even get a bid, does anyone have any experience of this.
Many thanks.

[Fergie]

Nobody seems to be answering this question, so I'll make a start.

Soays are slow growing, so will only really reach a suitable size when they are in their second year (ie hogget rather than lamb).  It's unlikely they will ever get fat.  This means that as commercial sheep grown for meat, they are just not suitable, and your comment that they may not get a bid at market is potentially true (except at specialist rare breed sales).

On the other hand, they are lovely small sheep, which can become very tame and yet alert enough to keep you on your toes.  They lamb easily, without human intervention (generally) and seem to have less troubles than many other sheep.  When they are ready for meat at about 15 months, they taste beautiful - real gourmet meat that will sell to people that appreciate them.  On the other hand, they are half the size of commercial sheep & have taken twice as long to get there, so they can never compete with cheap lamb.

Basically, you keep Soays because you like them, not to make a profit.  Choose commercial sheep such as Beltex, Texel or Suffolk if you want to make money.  Perhaps this is why Soays are a rare breed sheep?  They do give a lot of pleasure though, and I enjoy keeping them.

John

[Fleecewife]

I have seen Soay lambs going through Lanark at £5 the pen of 5, less than the entry fee.  They are not a commercial proposition as Fergie points out.  If you want to breed Soays for meat you would do well to secure a market first and breed to order.  Certain restaurants buy Soay hogget (and sell it as a speciality meat at a vast price to their customers) but you must find them first.  You would also need to check that your local abattoir can kill them - some find them too small for their equipment.  So as a means of making a quick buck, Soays are not the answer, but if carefully planned you could end up supplying a niche market.  Do your research before you buy.

[humphreymctush]

If you want to keep soays and sell lambs you could use a more commercial ram. The lambs would look much more like the sire than the dam. It would however be better not to use a big ram for their first time lambing. I have used Meatlinc and Suffolk rams on Hebredian and Manx Sheep and got £70 for the lambs in September. I know soays are smaller again but maybe a smaller down breed like a Ryeland would be suitable. Small lambs (12kg carcass) go to southern europe for spit roasting. If I lived somewhere where there were trees (and therefore logs) I would consider making a spit and even supplying small lambs with the loan of the spit included. For parties

[Fleecewife]

Good suggestions, although Suffolks are too big as a sire for Soays.  A Shetland or Hebridean would be perfect though - the lambs are a bit bigger than either parent so they maintain their relatively small size but with more meat (slightly more rounded gigots), which is nonetheless low fat (you would need to baste more on the spit    I did once suggest to the Soay Sheep Soc that Soays were ideal for barbecue spit roasting, but my suggestion was met with resounding silence    You could have a mobile spit and do the roasting yourself as part of the price, as most people wouldn't know where to start.