Lamb chops
March 23rd, 2010 by
cowgirljules
With all of this space out back, keeping the weeds down was a real hassle. Junior’s worked hard on getting the soil leveled so it would be easier to run the mower over but it’s still a big chunk. So while we were putting up fences for the chicken yard, we figured we’d put up one more fence for a little livestock.
Sheep are my meat animals of choice right now. I thought they’d be easier to start with than a steer, as the pen’s not all that big. They’re better about grazing grass than a goat, who’ll go for your landscaping if you give it half a chance. And lamb is my very favorite meat.
Growing our own meat (the lambs and the chickens too) goes along well with the big garden. I’ve always wanted to grow more of my own food. If I had a bigger place I’d get even more ambitious, but this is a good start. I like knowing what goes into what goes into me, and I like giving the kids an education in where their food comes from. With all the hunting we do, these kids aren’t under the misconception that meat comes in a plastic package from the grocery store, but this will be even more personal. This is meat that we directly had a hand in growing. We’re taking full responsibility that in order to feed us, we’ll have to kill things. We’ll do it cleanly and with respect, but these are by no means pets, and I’ll be reminding the kids of that every chance I get. They do not get names.
So once we decided to try this, I started asking around for lambs to buy. One lamb would be miserable and lonely, but two are fine. I would have liked three, but two is what I found. I’m not ready to mix lambs from different flocks yet; I want to keep my diseases under control here. I haven’t touched sheep for twenty years, since college, but I still remember some things.
The producer I found was recommended by a local friend. I knew him too, but I didn’t know he had sheep. He’s a rancher and farmer and happens to have a few ewes that he’s accumulated over the years. Only two lambs weren’t spoken for, and he gave me a really good price on them, and lots of good advice. We went and picked them up with the dog crate on Monday, and if I’d waited even another week, I’d have had to take two trips. They’re much bigger than they’d been the week before when I scoped them out.
I was worried that the dogs would run these things to death through the fence. They’re Border Collies, after all. Chasing sheep is what they’re bred to do, and Ringo is a known livestock worrier, which is part of the reason that I have him. Since my training collar was dead and only had one receiver unit anyway, I took the opportunity to buy a pro trainer model, with two collars. I got the set just in time and reminded the dogs what that collar means. They know; they behave perfectly well with the collars on.
Still, I was a little leery when I turned the lambs out in their pen. Ringo was nowhere to be seen; he sulks when the collar’s on even if he hasn’t felt it in days. Angus was intrigued though, paying close attention right at the gate but not getting excited or trying to chase. We stood out there and watched the lambs explore their new surroundings for a while and I was very surprised to see them march right up to the gate. They sniffed noses with Angus and then walked away; all was well. He remains interested and likes to lay near their fence but I haven’t caught him trying to chase one time. Good dog.
So they’ll be an interesting project. There will be challenges along the way, no doubt, but I think it’ll be rewarding. Certainly the end result will be, which we should reach around the end of June. Tasty, tasty lamb in my freezer, mmm!
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