First trip to the processors....

[RemudaOne]

Last little ram lamb went this morning. I'd taken a few to the sale barn before but never straight to the processors. I gave selling him a good shot, but I think it's just too late in the year right now and.....he did have the scur on one side. But I still think he would have made a decent commercial flock sire. Couldn't let him hang around any longer as he was sparring with my keeper ram lamb and..... Trying to get busy with his kin. Thank goodness they are all too tall, lol!

In any case, I called this processor about a month ago just to inquire about how things worked and what to expect. The owner of the company spent about fifteen or twenty minutes on the phone with me. This morning when I got there he waited on me himself and was super nice and took the time to discuss the different cuts and how much of what I could expect to get given the size of the lamb. Once we unloaded the lamb, we visited for a while about how he really disliked mutton years ago when he tried it but when he finally tried lamb after that, he really enjoyed it.

All in all, a great experience for me. I was kind of anticipating a line of trailers and all kinds of pens with all kinds of livestock bawling out. I was pleasantly surprised to find a small family owned operation that was very clean and very quiet. It will be a couple of weeks before I get the meat back. I'll let you know how that turns out too.

 

[TeamChaos]

I'm glad it went so smoothly!

 

[BrownSheep]

I enjoy our butchers. I've seen them in action and am friends with their granddaughter. It nice to know your animals will be treat the same way on their way out as they are on their way in to the wold.

 

[PotterWatch]

We have a great guy who comes to the farm to do the actual slaughter and then transports the carcass to the butcher for us. He has been doing this work for 40 years and is very quick, not to mention very gentle in his treatment of the animals on their way to the truck. He tells them all thank you and makes things super fast. The butcher is great as well. Both businesses are small family-run places and I am glad to have them around. It's not so easy to find slaughtermen and butchers around here so I am grateful to those still in the business.

 

[TexasShepherdess]

sounds like the processor we used..very respectful of the animals, clean. We dropped off a steer and a lamb..the lady helping us unload was very "nice" to them..I think going with a smaller operation keeps it "nice" for everyone. the bigger commercialslaughterhouses I think are where things can potentially turn south..due to the high volume of animals coming thru.

Hope your lamb turns out well! Ive got a great recipe for the shoulder roast!

 

[RemudaOne]

I'd love the recipe Sarah, thank you.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

*Like!!!*

Hope I can find a good one like that when the time comes!!!

 

[bonbean01]

Glad you found a good processor...we used one like that too, but since then they have closed...so not sure what we'll find this fall.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

We have a great guy who comes to the farm to do the actual slaughter and then transports the carcass to the butcher for us.

We just found someone to come to the farm this week. We butcher all our own sheep & pigs BUT cows are just too big to handle SO he is coming Monday morning to do a cow that is dry & has been dry for a while.

Glad you had a positive experience Remuda - you will definitely enjoy the meat once it comes back. Get yourself some Rosemary for those roasts - really brings out the flavor & for those of you that want to add a British touch to your meal, make up some mint sauce to pour on your lamb dinner.

Liz

 

[RemudaOne]

Okay, so went and picked up our order today. Four nice sized roasts, six packages of chops, four packs of shoulder steaks, one rack of ribs (I think that's all of it....), also received liver, heart, lamb fries, and a large plastic bag of bones. These last items will all go to my LGDs. I am still waiting on 10 pounds of summer sausage with cheese and jalapeos in it . It really doesn't look like a whole lot in the picture, but I would estimate about thirty pounds of meat (without the summer sausage). He was pretty small but I had to get him gone since he was wanting to breed everything in sight. Next time I will wether and grow out to about 100 pounds.