My Sheep Journal~ I'm a grandma! Black Betty had twins!!!

[aggieterpkatie]

I was just thinking of your journal the other day and wondered when you were going to update. Sorry to hear they're leaving, but it's good that you can go visit any time!

 

[Beekissed]

Well....tomorrow the sheeple ladies go back to their farm of origin and I will no longer be enchanted by their rolly-polly cuteness.

My boys and I got to thinking about how we never even got to eat any of our own sheep and how little Fats will just be shipped off to the sale market with other meat lambs.....and decided to keep Fats here on the land~in a manner of speaking.

The boys came over and processed rotund Fats here....very quickly and efficiently. Without my presence. I just couldn't do this one. He was too sweet, too lovey, too much like a stuffed animal...innocent and soft. I wimped out~big time.

Now all that is left of dear little Fats is in a pan in the bottom of my fridge and hanging on the clothesline. His pelt is at peak lushness and is a thing of beauty that I will cherish, and we will all get to consume the culmination of my sheep experiment. The boys say the meat is so tender that it practically fell off the carcass.

I'll be looking for good lamb recipes online, as we have never had or cooked our own lamb before. I've only tasted lamb once and it was a woolly breed....it was okay but I wasn't all that impressed.

His mama hasn't cried out or acted like she was looking for him, which was a relief for me. It was also a tremendous relief to let the boys do my dirty work just this once....I couldn't bring myself to even watch over the process.

It is certainly weird to take an animal from birth to the table. I've done this with chickens, but never with a larger livestock.

No one ever told me that sheep would captivate your heart and depend on you like a child....maybe they don't do that in large herds but the smaller groupings seem to look to their humans.

I must be gettin' too soft in my old age...... :/

 

[theawesomefowl]

Good for you! Let us know how tasty the lamb is!
I can't wait for my own sheep!
I am clearing out a three-sided shed for them! There is a bunch of wood, old shingles, broken glass, etc. int there. How high should I make the gate/front of it?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Well....tomorrow the sheeple ladies go back to their farm of origin and I will no longer be enchanted by their rolly-polly cuteness.

My boys and I got to thinking about how we never even got to eat any of our own sheep and how little Fats will just be shipped off to the sale market with other meat lambs.....and decided to keep Fats here on the land~in a manner of speaking.

The boys came over and processed rotund Fats here....very quickly and efficiently. Without my presence. I just couldn't do this one. He was too sweet, too lovey, too much like a stuffed animal...innocent and soft. I wimped out~big time.

Now all that is left of dear little Fats is in a pan in the bottom of my fridge and hanging on the clothesline. His pelt is at peak lushness and is a thing of beauty that I will cherish, and we will all get to consume the culmination of my sheep experiment. The boys say the meat is so tender that it practically fell off the carcass.

I'll be looking for good lamb recipes online, as we have never had or cooked our own lamb before. I've only tasted lamb once and it was a woolly breed....it was okay but I wasn't all that impressed.

His mama hasn't cried out or acted like she was looking for him, which was a relief for me. It was also a tremendous relief to let the boys do my dirty work just this once....I couldn't bring myself to even watch over the process.

It is certainly weird to take an animal from birth to the table. I've done this with chickens, but never with a larger livestock.

No one ever told me that sheep would captivate your heart and depend on you like a child....maybe they don't do that in large herds but the smaller groupings seem to look to their humans.

I must be gettin' too soft in my old age...... :/

I was wondering if you were going to keep him for the freezer . I have been planning since day 1 to put my ram in the freezer, and he's also very sweet and loves to be petted. I'm really going to miss him, but I know if I keep him I'll be too "soft" and I really want the sheep to provide meat and fiber, not just fiber. I also am wimping out and taking him to an Amish processor, because I just can't do it and we don't really have any friends that could help hubby, and I don't want him to have to do it himself.

It's great that you were able to do it (or have your boys do it) right on the farm. He was happy right to the end, I'm sure! And it will be great to have that fresh, homegrown lamb. I loove lamb. And now you have his hide, which will be great to have. I'm also going to keep my ram's hide. I found a place in PA that will do a washable tan for only $40. Can't wait to have that on the seat of my car, or in a rocking chair!

Good job, Bee!

 

[Beekissed]

Wow, Aggie! I'd love to have this one tanned instead of having to do it myself...especially for $40! But...I have the materials and I have another hide...my bottle calf from last year...also in the freezer awaiting tanning.

Hauled the ewes to their old farm today and they went quietly and gently, which was a blessing for me. I couldn't have handled it if they were frantic and crying. They were placed immediately with a St. Croix ram and Black Betty was bred right there on the spot!

Little Moe was not interested in breeding, so I'm assuming she is not in season right now....true to her character, she was more interested in what food they had!

Poor Jake, my lonely only dog, was whining and pacing as yet another of his friends disappeared from the farm. I can only imagine what he is thinking~"Am I next???"

 

[Beekissed]

A footnote to the sheep journey....Little Fats was the most tender and tastey meat! I had only ever had lamb once before and found it to be a little strong and greasy.....not this Katahdin grass fed lamb!

I barely had to chew the meat, it was that tender! And the flavor reminded me of young venison or tender young beef.

I'll post pics of the hide when I get it tanned to complete the circle of purchase, breeding, lambing, processing and tanning of the hide.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Hi Bkss,I had just started reading your topic and are only 2 pages in but thought I would let you know that so far I think its "great".....When I catch up I will post if I think I can contribute.......................T.O.R

 

[Beekissed]

TOR, I would be honored if you would post words of wisdom on this journal! We need a running thread on sheep info....not enough of us sheeple on here to keep a lively discourse going like the goat people.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day BK, just a quick note to let u know I 'm up to page 20 and I have made a few notes ,look forward to chatting on this topic.....T.O.R.

 

[Beekissed]

Black Betty had her first lambs, twins, this week and they are, by all reports, big and healthy. Live wires were the words to describe them! One ram, one ewe....a perfect set. One for eatin', one for breedin'.

I go to visit them tomorrow and hope to take pics. Little Mo will be lambing for her second time next week and I'm hoping she will have twins as well.

Both sheep are thriving well back in their home herd and have forgotten who I am.... They still turn at my call but act like I'm an ogre if I approach, turn tail and move away with the herd. Such is life....

It may just be mama bias, but as I view them with their herd, they seem more sleek, more bright -eyed and in better condition than all the rest. I like to think it was all the ACV/garlic tonics and the all-natural husbandry that produced such superior specimens!