# Raising Lambs to Butcher



## LadyJane

What length of time does it take to raise lambs to a butchering weight, from birth? Just wondering if we buy a couple of lambs if we'd need to keep them through this coming winter? 

Thanks!


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## LibertyWool

I generally butcher my lambs at 6 months and they dress out between 50-60 lbs (live weight between 100-125 lbs). Depending on the breed, they may take a little longer to finish.


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## LadyJane

Thank you, LibertyWool!


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## Ross

Grass fed takes alot longer, but you can certainly put lean meat on a fast growing lamb with grains. 90 days (forced with a high protein diet) to 6 months with 8 being a very easy realistic goal for lightly supplemented lambs. You should vaccinate especially if you grain feed but lush pasture is inviting trouble too. Breed will make a diff too


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## LibertyWool

For the lambs I have butchered, I leave them with the ewes just on pasture until mid August, when I separate the ram lambs out. I then lightly supplement (1/2 lb each) with sweet feed the last 4-6 weeks along with pasture and/or good hay depending on the year. 

I sell most of my lambs at 3 months to local people that want to raise them and then have them butchered in the fall. I would recommend getting weaned lambs vs bottle lambs.


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## kabri

We don't butcher until a little over a year, but we only feed grass hay and some pasture, plus our breeds mature slower.


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## LibertyWool

If you butcher over 1 year, then it's not lamb it's a hogget. Depending on where you live in the world, the definition may require that it is under a year old and does not have any permanent teeth to be considered lamb. There is nothing wrong with a hogget, and some people prefer the stronger tasting meat.


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## BlackSheepGirl

I take my meat lambs to butcher anywhere between 6-8 months, whenever it turns cold and the pasture stops growing. I do entirely grass fed lamb, and it's a smaller breed, so depending on the individual lamb they can dress out anywhere between 35-45 lbs. My customers don't mind though since it's a lot of smaller families and single people. They buy the whole lamb and 40 lbs of lamb is easier for them to store and eat than a larger lamb.


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## goodhors

We do lambs for the freezer and have done them for 4-H. We purchased Hampshire or Suffolk or crosses, to have the desired "look" for the ring of black legs and faces. These are meat breeds so they are expected to be around 130# to show and sell at the Fair Auction. That is the expected weight of Market Lambs selling. They can go some heavier, but 150# would about tops, the Judges don't want them huge.

Our Lambs return about 70# of meat, after processing, which is a good amount of meat for the freezer. We do have most of the roasts deboned, so that would be less weight than if you leave the bones in.

Our Fair is rather early, last of July and first days of August most years. So our lambs are born in January, purchased in early April at about 40#. They get some lamb pellets, then progress to a mixed grain and pellets serving daily, with most of the food hay or grass when it comes in. They don't go out in the soaking rain until they are older.

So we are saving money with grazing them and they do gain very well. We have very good pasture, which is quite nutritious. We bring them in nights for their grain and to protect them from possible predators.

Fair limits how many market animals you can sell to two per child, so with selling the calf and a lamb, we would have one left over. The couple years we didn't sell at Fair lambie came home and went back on just pasture. I wanted more size on them to have more meat for the freezer, so we didn't process until late Sept. or Oct. Those lambs just kept piling on the poundage, so when they were hauled in, they were over 200# live weight. We got LOTS Of meat back from those, losing about one-third in processing. 

So ours were not that close to a year old, still had gained VERY WELL, could have gone longer. We won't let them go to the year old age, taste changes and we don't like the flavor. These were wethers and ewe lambs. No rams allowed in 4-H Market classes. Breeds were big framed, able to carry the weight as meat, not just gaining fat layers which can happen with small breeds. Small breeds will stay small, no use keeping them too long for more weight gain.

So for me, I look at the poundage on the breed of animal. Not always just an age thing for when I haul them in. Six months on the meat breeds will prevent you getting nearly the quantity of meat possible. And you take a higher loss in bone and parts with little animals, to meat returned. You could loose maybe get 50% off return, doing that early processing of meat breeds. With processing price per head, plus cost of meat wrapped by the pound, it cost more for that little lamb meat quantity in your freezer.

I wouldn't carry any lambs thru the winter if they are born around first of the year. Late born lambs, April, May, should still be ready at good weights to process in Nov, Dec., so they might need a bit of hay after grass is gone. Still shouldn't need them fed all winter.

If the adult sheep of breed is only going to weigh 120 pounds, the market lamb is not going to be that big when he is ready to be done. Big breed, meat sheep need to let the lamb gain well, before being processed for best return in meat.


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