Feelin' a bit sheepish...

[Baymule]

Poor Rose! She is a good ewe and mom, maybe you could put a bra on her? LOL
You have some very good looking sheep, they are showing your care and dedication. Those are real nice ram lambs, picking between the two is going to be a hard choice!

 

[Beekissed]

Poor Rose! She is a good ewe and mom, maybe you could put a bra on her? LOL
You have some very good looking sheep, they are showing your care and dedication. Those are real nice ram lambs, picking between the two is going to be a hard choice!

We think so much alike! That's EXACTLY what I was thinking...how can I make this girl an anti nursing garment? They have those anti nursing nose rings for lambs but I'd have to ring the whole flock to make sure she would get some rest. Seems like just when I've identified which lambs are stealing milk, it's not the one I saw doing it before.

May turned out to be one lean sheep under all that bulk...no excess fat around the organs or under the hide...no excess of fat anywhere. Sure fooled me! She's lean and the meat is so tender it tears. A good carcass and meat yield. Aliza and Ella(6 and 4 yrs) watched the kill and butchering, came in and told their Mom they loved ALL of it. They also helped dispose of the offal and such. When Aliza saw how big May's guts were, she said, "That's going to be one flat sheep when those come out!" She's a hoot!

We decided not to shoot her but did the throat stick instead....that went well and it was an easy, quick kill and bleed out. SOOOOO glad to have that sheep out of the flock! She gave me one last insult by grazing my wrist in her death kicking, left quite a bruise and hurt pretty bad. That's just how spiteful that ol' hag was!

 

[Baymule]

What is the throat stick? We haven't butchered our own lambs. I'm just coming around to it. I sure can be tough and hard, but those lambs........just can't do it. I'm starting to think I could. LOL So far, paying the slaughter house to do it has been ok with me. Plenty of meat in the freezer and a confirmed slaughter date for the steer. Dunno how all the slaughter packing places are gonna play out, not even trying to set slaughter dates for any lambs, planning to take them to the auction.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We decided not to shoot her but did the throat stick instead

You didn't stun her first? Must not have been too quick if she got her revenge...

 

[Beekissed]

What is the throat stick? We haven't butchered our own lambs. I'm just coming around to it. I sure can be tough and hard, but those lambs........just can't do it. I'm starting to think I could. LOL So far, paying the slaughter house to do it has been ok with me. Plenty of meat in the freezer and a confirmed slaughter date for the steer. Dunno how all the slaughter packing places are gonna play out, not even trying to set slaughter dates for any lambs, planning to take them to the auction.

We just laid her down, I held her legs and Eli bent her head back, with his knee behind her head to keep her throat taut and exposed and then he just stuck the knife tip where the blood vessels lie in the throat and cut outward. Immediate blood spray outwards and she didn't even move or fight until the blood volume got so low that her fight or flight reflex kicked in(just a nerve impulse by that time, she was pretty much dead/dying) and then I let her legs go so she could kick and thereby bleed out better. It was over pretty quickly...about as quick as killing a chicken in the same manner.

 

[Baymule]

I think I'd have to use a 22.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I think I'd have to use a 22.

If a sheep's head is as thick as a goat's head - you might want to use something a little more powerful.

 

[Baymule]

If a sheep's head is as thick as a goat's head - you might want to use something a little more powerful.

what do you use? or rather, what does your husband use?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

DH informs me that he has used a 22 rifle with LR shells on smallish pigs. Goats we have used a 38 or a 44. He does most, but I've done it also. Neither of us enjoy it, but we do it respect and reverence, thanking God for the animal and thanking the animal for it's life.

 

[Baymule]

DH informs me that he has used a 22 rifle with LR shells on smallish pigs. Goats we have used a 38 or a 44. He does most, but I've done it also. Neither of us enjoy it, but we do it respect and reverence, thanking God for the animal and thanking the animal for it's life.

That's what I'm talking about!