# Butcher Lamb...to castrate or not?



## geniebell

Hi everyone!  I am new here.  We just bought our first sheep about 6 weeks ago and had our first lamb on 4/17.  It's a ram, and we had already bought a ram, so we will be butchering this one.  Was really hoping our first baby would be a ewe .  Anyway, my question is:  Castrate him, or no?  Is there a difference in the taste of the meat?  Our sheep are all Dorpers.  My husband loves lamb, but I have never been much of a fan, but in researching which kind of sheep to buy, I have read that the Dorpers have a milder taste, so I am hoping I will like it.  Also, what is the best age to butcher?  
Thanks in advance!


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## promiseacres

Not sure aboutt he dorpers but my painted deserts taste fine without castration. they are another hair breed but with horns and smaller than the dorpers. I think most people with dorpers castrate around 5 mos but not 100% on that... we did 11 months b/c we wanted more size.


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## geniebell

Thanks promise!


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## goatboy1973

I would think if you went much more past a year of age, not castrating might become an issue as far as taste and texture are concerned.


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## bcnewe2

I had some customers who are very good at butchering their own lambs come to the farm. We butchered same age ram and ewe lambs. Same diet and born same time, Dorper crosses.  It was an amazing difference in the fat content of the ewe lambs compared to the ram lambs. The ewe lambs had about 15-20% more fat around their bellies. They were not breeding age yet.  They also explained to me that a wether (castrated male) has even more fat than the females.
None of them were _to_ fatty but there was a distinct difference. 
Yummm I love lamb!
I had a bottle baby that was returned to me by the original purchasers butchered. She was huge. A real fatty.  I took some weight off her just by putting her on pasture for a while. We were totally disappointed in the meat. It is marbled with lots of fat, and compared to some younger leaner lambs the meat was pinkish red. The others were a beautiful dark red almost purple and very little fat. 
The owners told me she ate anything she could get into, chicken food, dog food and people food.  Yuck


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## bcnewe2

I sell my dorper lambs for butcher at about 6 months old. Just when they start to get rammy they have to go! I don't castrate at all.


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## geniebell

Bcnew... Great info! So weathers have more fat than ram. We are thinking to butcher around 100pounds. I have no intention of graing...probably grass hay if we run out of pasture before he reaches weight. 

Thanks goat boy! Will def be before he is a year.


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## bcnewe2

At that weight he'll probably be "feeling his oats". So you need a way to keep him out of any ewes you don't want him/them breeding.  At 6 months or so my lambs can get close to 100#'s but average is about 70-80.  I'd rather have a little less meat than lambs I didn't plan on with that ram!  Since I run my sheep together I have observed my herd sire will not allow any breeding to take place other than him. But I only run about 15 ewes or so for now. Any more and he might not be able to control all the ram lambs (up to 10 or so) My ram weighs about 200 or so way bigger than the boys.

The fat differences is something I just learned about last year. If I have others butchering here I will be watching to see. But yes I could really see the differences. I didn't see a wether for comparison but I had no reason to not believe them. They begged me not to castrate anything they were going to buy. 
I don't castrate because they really do put more weight and size on if left intact. Or at least that's what my experiences have been. I used to band everything.


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## geniebell

bcnewe2 said:


> At that weight he'll probably be "feeling his oats". So you need a way to keep him out of any ewes you don't want him/them breeding.  At 6 months or so my lambs can get close to 100#'s but average is about 70-80.  I'd rather have a little less meat than lambs I didn't plan on with that ram!  Since I run my sheep together I have observed my herd sire will not allow any breeding to take place other than him. But I only run about 15 ewes or so for now. Any more and he might not be able to control all the ram lambs (up to 10 or so) My ram weighs about 200 or so way bigger than the boys.
> 
> The fat differences is something I just learned about last year. If I have others butchering here I will be watching to see. But yes I could really see the differences. I didn't see a wether for comparison but I had no reason to not believe them. They begged me not to castrate anything they were going to buy.
> I don't castrate because they really do put more weight and size on if left intact. Or at least that's what my experiences have been. I used to band everything.



bc, just so I completely understand...is it the fat that gives it the "strong" taste?  Lamby?


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## goatboy1973

With our slaughter bucklings, our customers prefer intact (not castrated) male kids between 60- 100 lbs and usually get the highest price at this weight. Our Spanish goats are on the lighter end of moderately boned, and heavily muscled from the shoulders right through to their hindquarters.


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## goatboy1973

geniebell said:


> bc, just so I completely understand...is it the fat that gives it the "strong" taste?  Lamby?


It is the fat,in my opinion, that gives the strong taste.


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## geniebell

goatboy1973 said:


> With our slaughter bucklings, our customers prefer intact (not castrated) male kids between 60- 100 lbs and usually get the highest price at this weight. Our Spanish goats are on the lighter end of moderately boned, and heavily muscled from the shoulders right through to their hindquarters.


Thank you goatboy.  I am really looking forward to trying lamb...I have only eaten store-bought, and not impressed...was raised on beef and pork, so the lamb is so STRONG to me...but hoping the hair sheep are milder, as people have said...and it sounds like leaving in tact is the way to go!  
We have thought about getting a couple of goats...kind of scared to tackle that because everyone says they are such escape artists.  Our fences were built for large livestock...split-rail...for the sheep we put no climb on the inside of the pen with lambs, and field fencing on the inside of all of the other corrals.  Afraid the goats will find a way to climb over? Jump over?


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## Bossroo

goatboy1973 said:


> It is the fat,in my opinion, that gives the strong taste.


NOPE !   It is the male  hormone testosterone , fat marbling between the muscle fibers  is what makes the meat more tender .


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## OneFineAcre

Bossroo said:


> NOPE !   It is the male  hormone testosterone , fat marbling between the muscle fibers  is what makes the meat more tender .


Yes, but fat absorbs and stores free testosterone.


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## purplequeenvt

We butchered a 6 year old ewe last summer and she is so delicious! Tons of fat, but the meat is amazing. Years ago we ate a 9 year old ram and I remember him being quite strong. He would probably have been best as just ground meat instead of chops.

I've heard that wool type - fine, course, etc... - has a big influence on meat flavor. The finer the wool, the more lanolin, the stronger taste. I don't have any personal experience with that theory though.

It boils down to personal taste. Some people can't stand "strong" lamb flavor while others love mutton (sheep over 1 year of age). I prefer mutton. How the meat is cooked is really important. Lamb is usually over-cooked. I like to grill my lamb chops and leave them nice and pink in the middle.


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## bcnewe2

I don't know genibel. It's just so fatty it isn't enjoyable to cook or eat.  I little fat is good. A lot just makes for wasted weight.


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## bonbean01

Only reason we band our ram lambs is because we don't have enough pasture to separate them and we don't want random breedings.  Had a 2 year old bad ram that went to the freezer...did not taste different to me from wether lambs...he was a dorper/katahdin  cross and not strong at all.


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## goatboy1973

OneFineAcre said:


> Yes, but fat absorbs and stores free testosterone.


Bossroo, testosterone is a oil based hormone and is readily absorbed into fat where it is stored. So, "Nope" you are only partially correct.  I just assumed that everyone knew that fat stores testosterone. Not everyone has an Animal Science degree. Thx One Fine Acre for helping to clear the muddy water. The fat does make the meat more tender but it is a double edged sword in that the thing that makes it tender also gives it a funky taste. The key is to get the lamb at an earlier age and the tenderness lies in how you cook it (low and slow) cause you can take a tough cut of meat and by the technique used to cook it can make it tender and the opposite is true also.


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## geniebell

Thank you everyone for all of your replies. This thread has been a wealth of information!


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