# Price of 3 1/2 month old sheep



## kuntrygirl (Sep 17, 2013)

What is a good asking price for a 3 1/2 month old barbado and kathadin male sheep?


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## BrownSheep (Sep 17, 2013)

Purebred, registered, grade?

If just run of the mill, 100-150 is about average for my area


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## kuntrygirl (Sep 17, 2013)

BrownSheep said:
			
		

> Purebred, registered, grade?
> 
> If just run of the mill, 100-150 is about average for my area


Probably mixture of Kathadin and Barbado and unregistered.


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Sep 17, 2013)

*Around here you'd be lucky to sell them for $50 bucks. What I do is start high, say $150 on craigslist and drop it every week or so by $25 bucks until I get interest. *


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## bcnewe2 (Sep 17, 2013)

I'm selling some butcher lambs, about 4 months old this evening for 85 each.  I'm happy with that price as it's a pick up here off the farm. If I had to do more then I'd be asking 100.  But I have a strong ethic market that comes to the farm so we are all happy! But several sheep friends round here say they get 100 each for the same deal. I'd really like some of those customers but it isn't happening here.


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## Four Winds Ranch (Sep 17, 2013)

Yes I have to agree, I just came from a sale today and you would probably get between $30-$50 in this area!!  For some reason the hair sheep arn't worth much around here! :/ Dorper are abit more, but not too much!


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## SheepGirl (Sep 17, 2013)

Depends on how much they weigh. They could be anywhere from 40 to 80 lbs, though I'm guessing more like in the 40-50 lb range. Here, hair lambs for slaughter in that range are going for about $60 to $90 each.


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## bcnewe2 (Sep 18, 2013)

yes on the 60-90 dollar range. 60 when lamb is plentiful and 90 or so when it's holiday time or lamb is hard to come by.  The guy that came out last night tried to dicker over my price. They can really wear you down. I ended up taking 10 bucks off the whole deal. He swore that dressed my lambs were coming in at about 35lbs.  Doing the math I think 2.50 a lb is a great deal.  They can either pay my price or go else where.  Not many sheep people round here let butchering  be done on their place.  I figure it's my market so I need to be accommodating.  But I do make them take all the trash with them.   

We're not rolling in dough round here but it does pay for the food and a bit of farm stuff.  After I get the fencing done I will make a bit of profit but that's only when and if I can get hay off my own place.  Now tax benefits are whole nother story and it's done good for us.


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## kuntrygirl (Sep 18, 2013)

I guess I should weigh them.  Someone offered me $75.00.  I started the price at $100.00 because I knew that they would try to talk me down.


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## woodsie (Sep 20, 2013)

I don't believe it...I guess sometimes you get that pie in the sky offer that comes through....someone called last night on my really old ad and wants to buy my two 4.5 month old lambs for $160 each!!! I can hardly believe it....they were the cross breed he wanted and hadn't been able to find and I guess I found "the" buyer that valued my lambs. Then someone who was here drywalling our rental house bought another butcher lamb for $250, I have $60 in butcher fees and another month of feeding (but the grass is growing well still) but still that aint bad....maybe my market is not so bad here afterall....or maybe I just had a lucky day! Either way, I am HAPPY!  Stay encouraged sheep breeders, sometimes you do find "the one"...I know I have "over paid" for the animal I want so I guess the reverse happens too!


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## bcnewe2 (Sep 20, 2013)

I had a really nice all black ram, he was supposed to be butchered but time got away from me. I thought I'd try craigs list once just cause he was so nice I hated to butcher him for myself but that was what I was planning. He is about a year and a half old.  
I got no response for a week or so, forgot I listed him then got a urgent call from a young lady who'd bought a lamb from me 3 lambings ago for 4-H and was searching high and low for a black ram.
I sold him for $100.00. less than I'd of gotten for anything else his size but a few days later the young lady emailed me about how happy they were with him. They named him Awesome!  So even though money wasn't all that special, knowing someone likes my sheep as well as I do and appreciates what I've been breeding for made my day...heck made my whole lambing season!

I have 2 new ram lambs on the ground now. At 3 weeks they are big 'uns.  I've already sold one as a replacement ram.  Again for $100 bucks but again, I'm more thrilled that my rams are being used as herd sires more than money could of made me smile!

So I guess we're all in this for way more than money. If money were the case...well it wouldn't be sheep I'd be keeping! 

And I should raise my prices but all my spring lambs are gone and my more expensive friends are now feeding theirs so I'm figuring a bird in the hand is way better than a bunch of lambs I can't sell!


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