# When to buy lamb for 4-H / Fair



## hayzor (Dec 8, 2003)

Helping my daughter get ready to buy a market lamb for 4-H (this will be the first). The county fair is in mid April, and the local 4-H group starts up in Sept. 
How old and weight should the lamb be in Sept to be the right age and size in April? I've read 1/2 pound weight gain per day. That's approx 210 days - about 105 pounds weight gain. That means for a 150 pound lamb at fair time, we need to buy a 40-50 pound lamb. 
Does that sound right?
How old is a 40-50 pound lamb?

Thanks for any suggestions. 
I know my daughter has alot to learn - I just want to get her started on the right track. Our local 4-H does not have a sheep leader at this time so I'm trying to get some of these questions answered. They've assured me that there will be a leader by Sept. I also plan to dedicate a significant amount of time to help (and learn).


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## ONThorsegirl (Apr 2, 2005)

Hello, 

4-H is a great thing to be a part of. Your Daughter will (should) have lots of fun and should learn lots of information. 

1/2 a pound of weight gain would be correct but a 150lb lamb sounds to large but it depends on what class she will be entering. 

I don't know if this helps but this is what we do. We choose one of our lambs that was born in Late February or March and use them for our 4-H project. They normally average about 100-120 come show time which is in September. We don't try to pump the feed into them but we always have feed available for them in self feed feeders or this year we are giving 3 lbs of feed per day to our market lambs and letting our ewe lambs eat as much as they wish.

Melissa
I hope I helped a little.


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## kesoaps (Dec 18, 2004)

Our fair is in August. Most kids were buying their lambs in April, making the lamb born in February. By fair time, the lambs are approx. 6 months old.

We've got a bottom weight of 95 lbs at fair time. Lambs who don't weigh that much aren't allowed to show as market lambs, but are put into the feeder class. There is a top weight as well, 150 I think, so having lambs over 6 months can be a gamble depending on what they've gained.

Ideally I think you'd want a lamb born around October/November, making it between 5-6 months old.


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## punksheepshower (May 26, 2005)

our fair is in october. they want the lambs between 10-12 months. mine was born end of january. got him may 1st *(3 months of age) he weighed 96 lbs*. hes a big lamb, single birth so of course he'll be bigger. we have no max weight at fair but a minimum weight of 100 lbs. the size and weight of the lamb depends on how old the lamb is when purchased, how much you feed, genetics are a big part of it, and of course, how old it is at fair time. i think my lamb was 45lbs. at 1 1/2 months. at 5 months he's 135


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