Lambs in November?

[harrycatcat1]

I saw this last week and thought that I was mistaken but I stopped today and took a better look.

Is this unusual?

[Big Mat]

I wouldn't say unusual, depends on how the farmer runs his herd. We have our goats kidding in March, but friends have theirs kidding in October/November

[Benthejockey]

Easter lamb Harry. Got to have them lambed early to get them to weight in time. We’re having an unusually dry and warm spell at the minute so the ewes and lambs are fine out in the field. Normally it’s piddling down with rain by now and you don’t see the lambs out in the field. 

[Retsdon]

Poll Dorsets. You can get them into season as late as March, and lamb in September.The idea, as Ben said is to catch the spring lamb stage. Most breeds of sheep you can't do this with though, and even with implants or sponges the earliest you'll see lambs is late December early January.

[harrycatcat1]

You learn something new every day, thanks 👍👍

[Benthejockey]

In my opinion the best tasting lamb you’ll probably eat is actually late season lamb at the end of the summer. The rush to get them ready for Easter and the lack of fresh grass means they’re fed concentrates to get them to weight, it’s still damn good lamb but grass fed, slightly older lamb is the best. I’m biased because we lamb march time and kill any lambs for the freezer October/November time, the only corn they see is when we’re getting the ewes in to do something with them. I did put a barren ewe in the freezer last week and she’s delicious but people shy away from eating mutton. 

[Big Mat]

21 minutes ago, Benthejockey said:

In my opinion the best tasting lamb you’ll probably eat is actually late season lamb at the end of the summer. The rush to get them ready for Easter and the lack of fresh grass means they’re fed concentrates to get them to weight, it’s still damn good lamb but grass fed, slightly older lamb is the best. I’m biased because we lamb march time and kill any lambs for the freezer October/November time, the only corn they see is when we’re getting the ewes in to do something with them. I did put a barren ewe in the freezer last week and she’s delicious but people shy away from eating mutton. 

I'll second that, leave them out on grass, if they take abit longer then so be it, the taste is well worth it.

I've got a goat who'll be ready for slaughter come the spring, fed purely on grass, he'll be delicious! 

[loriusgarrulus]

I love mutton. Its got a much better flavour than lamb.

23 minutes ago, Benthejockey said:

In my opinion the best tasting lamb you’ll probably eat is actually late season lamb at the end of the summer. The rush to get them ready for Easter and the lack of fresh grass means they’re fed concentrates to get them to weight, it’s still damn good lamb but grass fed, slightly older lamb is the best. I’m biased because we lamb march time and kill any lambs for the freezer October/November time, the only corn they see is when we’re getting the ewes in to do something with them. I did put a barren ewe in the freezer last week and she’s delicious but people shy away from eating mutton. 

 

[haynes]

A few years ago we were due to kill a lamb in oct when the rest were going. Didnt have time and it got left and from previously finding out they can get really fatty late on it the year. So we left it till spring. So about a year old. It tasted amazing. Not bland and fatty as is sometimes the case. 

[Benthejockey]

We’ve got Southdowns and had Hebrideans in the past. The Southdown will get fat on fresh air and the Hebrideans did exceptionally well on the flood plain next to haimwood shooting ground. We found the Hebridean tup lambs were better off castrated and put down a nice bit of fat and weren’t so feral. Last year was the first lot of Southdown lambs to be killed, i castrated one and left the others with their nuts on. The wether lamb was a monster! He killed out at 30kg at 7 1/2 months old but was fatty, not terrible but a touch too much. The entire tup lambs killed out 4kg lighter each but had less fat and better muscle definition. An old boy that’s killed a lot of sheep across the world was very impressed with the carcasses and the killing out percentage. They’ve only got short legs and not got tonnes of bone so your meat to bone ratio is better. He’s having a tup to run with some of his Hill sheep he was so impressed  

I’ve experimented this time with running half a dozen balwen x welsh things with the two tup lambs I’ll be selling next year. Any lambs they have are for the freezer and the pedigree South Downs are replacements and for the tup sales. I think the negatives about the Southdown is they have bushy old faces and their feet can be a bit rubbish which I think is why they’re not a commercial breed. But they’re easily the tamest sheep I’ve ever worked with, they have serious amount of milk and can rear decent triplets without any help. 

[Big Mat]

Friend of ours has Shetlands and Norfolk horns, we had a Shetland wether one year,  left it out in the field until it was a year old, tastiest lamb I've had! 

[Retsdon]

6 hours ago, Benthejockey said:

In my opinion the best tasting lamb you’ll probably eat is actually late season lamb at the end of the summer.

I'd agree with that. And off a hill too.

[Fisheruk]

8 hours ago, loriusgarrulus said:

I love mutton. Its got a much better flavour than lamb.

 

Provided it is dressed up as lamb 😉

[loriusgarrulus]

9 hours ago, Fisheruk said:

Provided it is dressed up as lamb 😉

Prefer them undressed with just a bit of rosemary to cook and mint sauce on the plate. 

[figgy]

I find mutton dressed as lamb underdressed can be off putting to look at. Unless it has aged well. 

[Mice!]

We'll you won't like this but "countryfile" said this year that we eat lamb at the wrong time, we should be eating mutton in spring and lamb in winter as you folk have said, but don't think I've ever eaten mutton? Unless it was in a pie?

[harrycatcat1]

Never seen mutton on sale, I don't think, probably because I've never looked.

Is it cheaper? Do you get it from the local butcher?

[Yellow Bear]

10 minutes ago, harrycatcat1 said:

Never seen mutton on sale, I don't think, probably because I've never looked.

Is it cheaper? Do you get it from the local butcher?

Yes you can get it, and fairly local too, but you pay a premium for it as the masses have been brainwashed into eating lamb because that suits the industry.

[mossy835]

some farmers have there  lambs at xmas.

[Benthejockey]

We did 3 weeks in New Zealand when I was at college and all they eat over there is mutton because they export all their lamb. You’ll pay a premium for mutton in this country because it’s a bit trendy and foody to eat it. A bit like the posh chefs love to use a bit of bone marrow or other poverty type food and make it new and hip and exciting and charge a premium for something the butchers can’t give away. 

 

[harrycatcat1]

21 hours ago, Yellow Bear said:

Yes you can get it, and fairly local too, but you pay a premium for it as the masses have been brainwashed into eating lamb because that suits the industry.

👍

[Big Mat]

Our local butcher does alot of hogget,  midway house between lamb and mutton.  It's very nice! 

[harrycatcat1]

47 minutes ago, Big Mat said:

Our local butcher does alot of hogget,  midway house between lamb and mutton.  It's very nice! 

Never heard of that term Mat I had to google it, thanks 👍

 

 

[Retsdon]

55 minutes ago, Big Mat said:

Our local butcher does alot of hogget,  midway house between lamb and mutton.  It's very nice! 

Maybe it's all the turnips they've been eating

 

[Big Mat]

1 hour ago, Retsdon said:

Maybe it's all the turnips they've been eating

 

All grass fed from my local butcher!