Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ate from laws regarding milk. Check those laws to see if you can sell cheese and other dairy
products made from your sheep's milk.
Sheep for Meat
Mutton and lamb have been popular meats throughout history. The Cheviot, Dorset, and the
Suffolk are popular breeds to raise for their meat. In the United States, the following cuts of
meat are usually available:
• Square cut shoulder — shoulder roast, shoulder chops, and arm chops
• Rack — rib chops and riblets, rib roast
• Loin — loin chops or roast
• Leg — sirloin chops, leg roast (leg of lamb)
• Neck
• Breast
• Shanks (fore or hind)
• Flank
If you are raising sheep and lambs for personal consumption, there are no laws about how you
harvest your lambs. You may butcher your own sheep and lambs on your property or take
them to a processor to have a butcher do the work for you. You can use a custom butcher. He
or she does not need to be state or USDA-licensed because you are not selling the meat.
How to slaughter and clean
Butchering a sheep will take some preparation and assistance. Many people prefer to have a
local butcher shop do the job, as it is not an easy task. But if you prefer to butcher the sheep
for your own use, it is possible to perform the task at home. Sheep should be butchered when
the outside daytime temperature is 40 degrees F or cooler. This temperature is ideal refrigerat-
or temperature and will allow the carcass to cool to prevent spoilage. Sheep usually are
butchered when they are less than 9 months old.
Withhold feed, but not water, from the sheep you intend to harvest for about 12 hours before
slaughter. The animal to be butchered should be removed from its herd mates and killed out of
sight and hearing to keep from upsetting the other animals. It is best to handle the sheep as
calmly as possible. As with other animals, if the sheep is stressed it will release hormones that
will alter the taste of the meat. Having a front-end load tractor will help you hang the animal
so its blood can drain from the body. A pulley system consisting of a rope and block and
