I just read some disturbing news in the paper today. No, it's not that the country has now been officially declared to be in a recession, although it may be related to that. This is bad news on a personal and local level.
The little auction yard that I've been using to sell my calves and lambs is closing down. We still have two cattle auction yards here in Bakersfield so this is just impacting my selling of the lambs. According to the article I would have to travel to Lancaster or Dinuba, each about 100 miles away, in order to sell the lambs at auction. My only other option for the lambs is to place an ad in the paper which is something I had been resistant to because of their high ad fee with no guarantee of a sale.
I'm not sure how this will affect me in the future. Will I have to lower my prices (which are pretty darn low already!) just to try and get rid of extra lambs? Will I have to raise my prices just to come out even? Will I have to stop raising lambs altogether? Will there be no more sheep's milk cheese and yogurt? (NOOOOOOO!) Will I have to change the name of my blog to "Irish Dexter Cattle But No More Cheap Sheep"?
One thing is for sure, and that is I don't have enough room (or funds) to keep a lot of lambs around indefinately hoping they will sell or until they are old enough to butcher.
The little auction yard that I've been using to sell my calves and lambs is closing down. We still have two cattle auction yards here in Bakersfield so this is just impacting my selling of the lambs. According to the article I would have to travel to Lancaster or Dinuba, each about 100 miles away, in order to sell the lambs at auction. My only other option for the lambs is to place an ad in the paper which is something I had been resistant to because of their high ad fee with no guarantee of a sale.
I'm not sure how this will affect me in the future. Will I have to lower my prices (which are pretty darn low already!) just to try and get rid of extra lambs? Will I have to raise my prices just to come out even? Will I have to stop raising lambs altogether? Will there be no more sheep's milk cheese and yogurt? (NOOOOOOO!) Will I have to change the name of my blog to "Irish Dexter Cattle But No More Cheap Sheep"?
One thing is for sure, and that is I don't have enough room (or funds) to keep a lot of lambs around indefinately hoping they will sell or until they are old enough to butcher.
I guess time will tell.
6 comments:
How old do they have to be to butcher?
Hi Robbyn,
They can actually be butchered any time. I've found that they develop more flavor between 12-18 months of age (kind of like veal vs beef) but any older than that and you run the risk of them becoming "muttony", aka "yucky". Plus they fill out a little more (more meat).
So, you sell your Dexters at auction? How much do you get & how old are they?
What kind of sheep do you have? How much are lambs?
Does your processor come to your farm? (Less stress than a trailer ride to a strange place. Even if they do stay in a strange stall, w/ strange animals, eating strange food & scared out of their wits the entire time.)
So, you sell your Dexters at auction? How much do you get & how old are they?
What kind of sheep do you have? How much are lambs?
Does your processor come to your farm? (Less stress than a trailer ride to a strange place. Even if they do stay in a strange stall, w/ strange animals, eating strange food & scared out of their wits the entire time.)
Evelyn,
I've only had to sell one Dexter at auction and that was some time ago. It was the first calf my cow had. I wanted to keep her but I didn't have a bull then and we tried for about three years to AI with no success. I think I got $300 for her then which was not too shabby for around here. Now that I have my own bull I wished I had her back. Oh well.
My ram is a Dorper. The ewes I have are two Dorsets, one Cheviot, one Cheviot-Dorset cross, and one Suffolk. I usually sell the lambs for $50 from here but have always got more at auction. I usually bring them to the auction yard when they are anywhere from two-four months, preferably sooner so I don't have to feed them. It depends on when they've been born. Last time worked out good because they were all born within the same month's time period. Otherwise I would have made a couple of trips.
As for the processor, he comes here, does his thing, then takes the lamb or steer to the butcher I designate. He keeps the skin unless I want it, then I have to pay a little more.
Hope that answers your questions!☺
I just realized there may be some confusion about the answer I just gave regarding the lambs. If I'm going to keep one to butcher for myself I let them grow out to about 12 mos, like I said before. But if I'm not planning on keeping them I like to get rid of them as soon as I can.
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