# How to slaughter lamb?



## Apryl in ND (Jan 31, 2010)

I have a ram lamb that I am planning on butchering myself pretty soon. My know it all FIL says that you have to hang them upside down alive and cut their heads off. This sounds like a crock to me. He grew up on a sheep ranch and says that's how it has to be done, but he doesn't know why. Can't I just shoot him in the back of the head and then slit his throat? 

This ram was born in February I think. Will his meat taste weird because he's not castrated? Thanks.


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## Apryl in ND (Jan 31, 2010)

Lol, shoot the SHEEP in the head and slit his throat, not my FIL.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Good Lord, your FIL needs a kick up his backside in a big way. Is he trying to take top prize in being a nutter:grump: Imagine putting a live animal through that cruelty and stress.

If you are competent with a rifle, yes shoot it and then cut the throat to bleed it out. The meat will be fine.

This topic came up fairly recently and I'm sorry, it's escaped me as to who started the thread but a search should bring it up.


Just clicked to your second post - perhaps leave the sheep and shoot the FIL. lol


Cheers,
Ronnie


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

Apryl in ND said:


> Lol, shoot the SHEEP in the head and slit his throat, not my FIL.


you had it right the first time. lol! He is a :grumble::grumble: if he thinks hanging up a live lamb by the back legs is OK to do. Shoot it in the head right behind the ear and then slit it's throat.


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## Apryl in ND (Jan 31, 2010)

Okay, point taken. Did they used to do sheep that way??? He just likes me to be wrong. He doesn't have any animals but tries to tell me how to raise mine because he grew up on our farm and they raised animals. Drives me nuts. He also says that turkeys have to have an icepick shoved in their mouth and into the brain to be killed or the feathers are hard to pluck. Please....


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

I have heard of pigs being done that way, but they are stunned first. So technically they are alive and still pumping blood, but they are knocked out. If the animal was not stunned and was hung up alive, the meat would be pumped full of adrenaline which would toughen it and add some unwanted off flavoring. Some religious groups kill lambs by slicing their throats but they are not hanging...they are standing. I never saw it done but apparently if it's done right, it is very humane. They don't really feel the razor (it's got to be VERY sharp for them to not feel it) and they bleed out pretty fast.

I have heard of killing turkeys that way.


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## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

Shoot and slit. You have to shoot right to kill or stun, make an imaginary X from eyes to ears. The first time my teenage sons did it for me, one held the lamb and the other shot, the sheep ran off and it freaked them both out. My husband showed them how to do it right after that. I was also raised on a sheep farm and have NEVER heard of anyone hanging one alive - can you imagine the fight? and cutting its head off.


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

yeah that would be one heck of a fight! I don't want my animals to ever be stressed out. That's part of the reason I raise my own meat. My animals live a calm, stress-free life right up to the end. that's the way it should be.


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## Shoupie (Mar 21, 2009)

BarbadosSheep said:


> Some religious groups kill lambs by slicing their throats but they are not hanging...they are standing. I never saw it done but apparently if it's done right, it is very humane. They don't really feel the razor (it's got to be VERY sharp for them to not feel it) and they bleed out pretty fast.



That method isn't cruel but I wouldn't call it humane. Even if they can't feel the knife if a live animal's ability to breath is compromised(which it most certainly is) then they are going to panic and flail around trying to regain their ability to breathe. I wouldn't compare it to the original suggestion but if you're going to slaughter your own you should own a suitable gun or have one available to borrow.

As far as your FIL you might want to feed him some laxatives because he's obviously very plugged up and the S is coming out of the wrong end lol. 

He is somewhat right when it comes to slaughtering turkeys. What he's describing is called debraining and it's supposed to separate the brain from the spinal cord so that the animal is effectively brain dead like your sheep should be. The whole it makes their feathers fall out better is bs though.


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## Apryl in ND (Jan 31, 2010)

Okay so some people shoot lambs behind the ear....from a standing postion into the brain or the neck? And some people use the imaginary x on the forehead? My gun is a .17 do I need something bigger?


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

The easiest way is to put a pan of feed on the ground and while he is eating, shoot him in the imaginary X on his forehead. It's easier to aim that way and safer since you are shooting towards the ground. 

I think a .17 is too small. Sheep have pretty thick skulls. I'd like to see something bigger than a .22 even. 

And don't panic when the sheep hits the ground and thrashes around. He is dead but his nerves may cause him to kick around some. Slit his throat as soon as he hits the ground.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> shoot him in the imaginary X on his *forehead*


That's the thickest part of the skull

A better place is the *back *of the skull, just above where it joins the spine, which takes out the brain stem

Animals (and humans) can survive *without* the frontal lobe, but damage to the brain stem is instantly fatal

I don't worry about slitting the throat until after they are hung, since once the heart stops beating, it's only going to drain by gravity anyway.

I wait until they *stop thrashing *and then do all the hanging and cutting.

They can hurt you with those hooves


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

This is what I like to aim for:



> The *medulla oblongata *is the lower half of the brainstem. In discussions of neurology and similar contexts where no ambiguity will result, it is often referred to as simply the medulla. The medulla *contains the cardiac, respiratory, vomiting and vasomotor centers and deals with autonomic, involuntary functions, such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure*.












This site has *animated versions *of the proper bullet trajectories:

http://www.vdpam.iastate.edu/HumaneEuthanasia/anat.htm



> In horned sheep and rams the top of the head is not recommended because of the thickness of the skull in this region. Instead, the preferred position and orientation of penetrating captive bolt or gunshot are on a line starting from behind the poll and aimed in the direction of the animal&#8217;s muzzle as shown in the figure below.


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## Goatress (Feb 4, 2011)

We don't shoot at all.
My cousin is an 8th generation californio/basque by heritage. An expert livestockman, old cowboy and sheepman.
We put lamb in back of small pickup truck and hobble it's legs.
Pull over to our slaughter area, which has been prepped with needed equipment, knives, etc.
Slit lambs throat let it bleed out into bucket lined with plastic trash bag.
Remove head.
Once done, hang on trestle. Pull up, head down of course. Skin. Wrap in sheets and pin with safefy pins. Let hang for a week in cool weather. Then we butcher and cut up.
It is humane, non stressful. The lamb dies quietly. It is key not to stress the lamb prior to killing. 
Just my experience but that's how we do it. I left out a ton of details but you get the general idea.


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## J.T.M. (Mar 2, 2008)

houndlover said:


> . The first time my teenage sons did it for me, one held the lamb and the other shot, .


OH MY..............

I TRUST WE WONT BE DOING THAT AGAIN .


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> My gun is a .17 do I need something bigger?


I imagine it will work with* good *shot placement, but it's not the ideal choice.

The bullets are light and FAST, and made to shatter on impact .

A 22 works just fine, and there's really no need for anything larger


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## Shoupie (Mar 21, 2009)

This is kind of side tracking but... I've seen this device used once in a movie(Bitter Harvest-the scene where they're doing the autopsy on the calf) where they screw something into a light socket connect one clip to the ear and the other to the tongue then flip the light switch and shock the calf. Is that real? I imagine it wouldn't work on anything bigger than a sheep and you'd have to restrain it before use but that would take the guesswork out of using a gun.

(also thinking about it for schools with ag farms as it's illegal to have any type of "weapon" on campus)


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Apryl in ND said:


> I have a ram lamb that I am planning on butchering myself pretty soon. My know it all FIL says that you have to hang them upside down alive and cut their heads off. This sounds like a crock to me. He grew up on a sheep ranch and says that's how it has to be done, but he doesn't know why


That is the way it was done "way back when". I know my grandparents slaughtered most of their food animals that way.


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

Here, we've done a bullet to the back of the head or the thin bone near the temple and into the brain. 

We try to keep the sheep as calm as possible, maybe put a pan of grain down and let it drop its head to eat. I know this sounds ridiculous, but for a really skittish lamb, I have given the equivalent of a stiff drink (peach juice and vodka?) to make it very relaxed before doing the deed.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

I've done a couple hair sheep at home and have tried to keep it simple and don't stress them either. I put feed in a trough and walk away to where the rifle is pirched. Then, I aim and shoot. They never know what hits them and they pass quickly. I hang them and bleed them as quick as possible and the meat has been great. In fact, I think hair sheep meat is my family's favorite "other" meat. Beef is our 1st choice.


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## eruehr (Feb 22, 2007)

We just tip the sheep up, kneel over it and cut its throat - hold the chin with one hand and slice down through the throat to the spinal column. The arteries are severed and the sheep blacks out almost instantly. Most of the time they don't even struggle - but sometimes there's a little reflexive jerking. We do steers the same way - throw them and get a rope their legs back and cut them - takes less than 30 seconds. Too much can go wrong with guns when you're butchering and most of the time they're more trouble than they're worth.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

eruehr said:


> We just tip the sheep up, kneel over it and cut its throat - hold the chin with one hand and slice down through the throat to the spinal column. The arteries are severed and the sheep blacks out almost instantly. Most of the time they don't even struggle - but sometimes there's a little reflexive jerking. We do steers the same way - throw them and get a rope their legs back and cut them - takes less than 30 seconds. Too much can go wrong with guns when you're butchering and most of the time they're more trouble than they're worth.


I'll have to try that the next time I butcher a sheep or goat. I doubt I'd do a steer that way because I just don't have the time and facilities I feel needed to get them put in the freezer in a timely fashion. 

Thanks for the tutorial!


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

I brased through this and didnt see where some one mentioned that on the goat forum we have some very good images on how to kill, also there are several youtube videos that show how to do it. I have had a guy slit the throat on one goat, actually our first goat and honestly the way it was done it seemed very quick and humane but I still would prefer a bullet as knowing my luck I wouldnt do something right with the knife.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

I'm more inclined to think I'll screw up with the gun, but I use the local abattoir. A: because I don't want to butcher anything, and B: it helps keep him in business. C: he does nice work and vac paks it.


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## animalfarmer (Feb 14, 2006)

eruehr gives good advice here.
His is one of the simplest and best methods when you do not need to leave the head on the finished lamb carcass for roasting or such.
I have slaughtered many steers and large calves also by roping or snubbing tight and then simply cutting the throat. It is fast and humane. The animal is unconscious from loss of blood in ten seconds and dead in thirty.
I know some folks might not like it,but it works well.
Best of luck.


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## Le Petit Norman (Apr 28, 2008)

go take a look at the stickies in the goat section, there all you need there


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Ummm....

This???

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=112807

Goats and sheep are so very similar. 
Have killed and processed both at home...deer are pretty much the same.
The above poster Goatress that mentions methods they use are more of an ethnic/religious type. ( Not that there is anything wrong with that...it's just not really needed for those that don't follow that line )


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