Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[RedRidge]

It's hard finding young lambs/goats for Easter cause of the bad winter we had.  Eastern Orthodox Easter is same date as Catholic Easter this year...  You can make $125 per young lamb/goat but people are selling $150+ and that's a rip off price cause if they sell them in a auction they only get $100 after fees...

The Greeks are asking me if I heritage birds for slaughter.. I don't have any at the moment.. As a Greek they ask to much..

Hmmm... doesn't sound like a rip off to me, sounds like a good deal. My meat lambs sell for $2.25/lb live weight except for Easter lambs which sell for $2.50/lb. They average 100-120 lbs when they go to slaughter. Except for the Easter lambs they are grass fed and reach slaughter weight at 5 months. The Easter lambs born in the fall grow slower due to poorer quality forage over the winter and must be supplemented, thus the slightly higher price. I have not increased my beef and lamb prices in 5 years and even when I was producing 300 lambs a year I had a waiting list - i sell to private individuals only, no wholesale. Trust me, I do not make a killing, just barely a living.

 

[Arielle]

It's hard finding young lambs/goats for Easter cause of the bad winter we had. Eastern Orthodox Easter is same date as Catholic Easter this year... You can make $125 per young lamb/goat but people are selling $150+ and that's a rip off price cause if they sell them in a auction they only get $100 after fees...

The Greeks are asking me if I heritage birds for slaughter.. I don't have any at the moment.. As a Greek they ask to much..

I raise lambs and at $150 it still doesn't pay the bill to raise it. I stopped selling and put them in my own freezer now.

 

[gjensen]

I do not know anything about raising lamb, but I love to eat it. I have had people tell me that they did not like it, and I never understood why other than it was different.

I love grilled lamb chops. That is a little piece of heaven for me.

If I could get it for 2.25 per lb. live weight, I would buy one or two every year. I pay a pretty penny to treat us with some chops from the local market.

 

[Arielle]

haahaaa- yes I look at the prices at the grocery and wonder " who can afford THAT!" $17/ pound for lamb chops on "sale" at $14-15. Yet finding buyers at $4 per pound for a whole lamb,cut and wrapped and delivered was a no go---" that's too expensive". I culled my flock, selling the ewes to the ethinic market for $60 each, keeping just 5 ewes, and now raise just a few lambs a year for us. Hay is running 8-10$ for a 45pound bale the last 2 winters.

THe farms are disappearing here and the houses are sprouting.

 

[gjensen]

Quote: Scott, I hope that I did not come across as being too critical. If you came to my place, you will find plenty of I wish that I had done this or not done that. It adds a challenge when you are limited by trying to use what you have and what you can come up with. That is the case for me, at least.
If I could go back in time, there is a lot that I would have done differently. Part of it is that I did not see where I was taking this.

What I noticed in your picture is that the males in the inside stalls are getting little light. Even with the tarp all of the way up, and there side up against the other structure, the sun would have to be very low in the sky to let any real light in. Especially with the doors solid.

I have tried to find an ideal or balance with my males as well. I keep more pre breed than some, and when they get to stag stage, I prefer to grow them out individually. Otherwise someone is getting beat up. Then the stress levels are high. Especially if they have girls running around.

I have a hard time seeing getting away with less than three males per breed. I know some do fine with two, and I am no expert. I just think to what if I lose one. Then I am down to one and in a hole. If Murphy's law kicked in, it would be my luck to lose the last.
I have seen it recommended to keep half as many males as you need as spares, and possibly mating on the side. I thought that was good advice.

I am not really making any recommendations. I am sure that my view will continue to evolve over time. I also think it depends one what you are raising. Where am I going to go for new blood in so many years, if someone in California quits keeping them? There is a couple hatcheries, and they would be an option, but they would also set me back. This project needs to be able to run o it's own for a while.
There is more options with the NHs. I could get away with less with them. I am paying attention to who is doing well with them or not. Looking at who is strong where I am weak etc.

 

[RedRidge]

haahaaa- yes I look at the prices at the grocery and wonder " who can afford THAT!"   $17/ pound for lamb chops on "sale" at $14-15.  Yet finding buyers at $4 per pound for a whole lamb,cut and wrapped and delivered was a no go---" that's too expensive".  I culled my flock, selling the ewes to the ethinic market for $60 each, keeping just 5 ewes, and now raise just a few lambs a year for us. Hay is running 8-10$ for a 45pound bale the last 2 winters. 

THe farms are disappearing here and the houses are sprouting.

Holy moly, no wonder at those prices you sold out. I can't imagine having to pay that for hay. I pay $60/ton for hay. For 50 adult ewes and 8 head of cattle my hay bill for last year was $1200. My lamb and beef get sold by the side or whole as I cannot sell by the piece here. Beef comes out to be about the same price per lb as lamb. .. it's $4/lb hanging weight. I could sell 10 times as many steers as i grow out each year so I am doubling my cattle herd and cutting my ewes back to about 35 - that's about 75 lambs/yr. A lot of my customers who buy lamb instead of beef do it because it's the same price and a lot less meat for small family's - doesn't require an extra freezer.

 

[har]

 Scott, I hope that I did not come across as being too critical. If you came to my place, you will find plenty of I wish that I had done this or not done that. It adds a challenge when you are limited by trying to use what you have and what you can come up with. That is the case for me, at least.
 If I could go back in time, there is a lot that I would have done differently. Part of it is that I did not see where I was taking this.

 What I noticed in your picture is that the males in the inside stalls are getting little light. Even with the tarp all of the way up, and there side up against the other structure, the sun would have to be very low in the sky to let any real light in. Especially with the doors solid.

 I have tried to find an ideal or balance with my males as well. I keep more pre breed than some, and when they get to stag stage, I prefer to grow them out individually. Otherwise someone is getting beat up. Then the stress levels are high. Especially if they have girls running around.

 I have a hard time seeing getting away with less than three males per breed. I know some do fine with two, and I am no expert. I just think to what if I lose one. Then I am down to one and in a hole. If Murphy's law kicked in, it would be my luck to lose the last.
 I have seen it recommended to keep half as many males as you need as spares, and possibly mating on the side. I thought that was good advice.

 I am not really making any recommendations. I am sure that my view will continue to evolve over time. I also think it depends one what you are raising. Where am I going to go for new blood in so many years, if someone in California quits keeping them? There is a couple hatcheries, and they would be an option, but they would also set me back. This project needs to be able to run o it's own for a while.
 There is more options with the NHs. I could get away with less with them. I am paying attention to who is doing well with them or not. Looking at who is strong where I am weak etc.

Well said!! Thank you.
Scott

 

[hellbender]

Hmmm... doesn't sound like a rip off to me, sounds like a good deal. My meat lambs sell for $2.25/lb live weight except for Easter lambs which sell for $2.50/lb. They average 100-120 lbs when they go to slaughter. Except for the Easter lambs they are grass fed and reach slaughter weight at 5 months. The Easter lambs born in the fall grow slower due to poorer quality forage over the winter and must be supplemented, thus the slightly higher price. I have not increased my beef and lamb prices in 5 years and even when I was producing 300 lambs a year I had a waiting list - i sell to private individuals only, no wholesale. Trust me, I do not make a killing, just barely a living.

You have to 'do it' to fully understand what goes into producing quality meat. I don't know much about lambs but I used to deal with market goats and still run a few head of beef cattle..It's tough to make a buck.

 

[hellbender]

Holy moly, no wonder at those prices you sold out. I can't imagine having to pay that for hay. I pay $60/ton for hay. For 50 adult ewes and 8 head of cattle my hay bill for last year was $1200. My lamb and beef get sold by the side or whole as I cannot sell by the piece here. Beef comes out to be about the same price per lb as lamb. .. it's $4/lb hanging weight. I could sell 10 times as many steers as i grow out each year so I am doubling my cattle herd and cutting my ewes back to about 35 - that's about 75 lambs/yr. A lot of my customers who buy lamb instead of beef do it because it's the same price and a lot less meat for small family's - doesn't require an extra freezer.

If I had to buy hay, I wouldn't raise beef, except for the few people who order grass-fed beef on a yearly basis and our own consumption.

In fact, I'd not mess with them at all...except, it's wise to keep some good cows around...in case of 'emergencies'.

A couple of CAE-clear yearling Nubian does will be coming here in a couple of months. Never thought I'd see one on this property but they have advantages over the regular meat goats.

I could do very well with chicken, rabbit and 'la vinade de chevre' as meat protein.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: My fav will always be beef-- Redridge you need to ship me some beef. I have TWO chest freezers.

Next fav is turkey.

Then heritage chicken.

I do have a meat buck (rabbit) -- but as I still dont have the heart to kill a rabbit so I"m stuck with him as a pet. lol He lives in the house.

My goal is to improve the forages here, and relearn the seasonal consumption of grasses and legumes; and cull down to a number the land can support thru the winter. ANd look at a bulk silo-- grain dealer keeps talking me out of this as he likes to see processed grain used up every 2 weeks.