Is $100 a good price for a three month old lamb?

[joshplus10]

I'm looking to raise a couple of lambs for the freezer.

I've been offered 2 for $200. They are 3 month old and "black-faced." He says they are old enough to take from their mom and already eating oats.

Is this a good price?

 

[sunnychooks]

That seems fair to me. When we used to raise market lambs that's the price we set for ours. I've also bought lambs for $100 each.
However, you might want to check around to see what the prevailing rate is in your area.

 

[MissPrissy]

Around here $100 will buy you a 85lb ram lamb nearly ready for market.

A 3 month old lamb I wouldn't pay more than $50 for.

It should be weaned and accustomed to grazing by this age.

 

[sara]

It's hard to say. There could be a host of factors involved. Number one being quality. When I used to show sheep for 4-H I spent more than $100 on lambs, but those were show quality.

Also we are getting towards Easter which tends to drive the price of lamb/goats up. Run of the mill lambs at auction on a normal day will go for at least a dollar a pound, for the Easter market it can go way up.

So there really isn't an easy answer to your question.

 

[mekasmom]

I buy "just weaned" lambs at the auction barn for about fifteen to twenty dollars a piece. Males can go as low as ten dollars, females go as much as 40-50 if they are purebreds to be used as Mommas later.

I personally cannot imagine spending a hundred dollars on a lamb to put into the freezer. Don't you have any livestock auctions in your area?

 

[sara]

mekasmom ~ Wow, where are you from? Lambs are never that cheap here

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I usually get $130 -$150 per lamb, and have been getting that price for 5 years now.

Auction barn lambs are someones rejects, so those prices dont really apply, unless you dont mind not knowing what youre eating.

Mine are pasture raised with no medications

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

A 3 month old lamb I wouldn't pay more than $50 for.

I guess quality is the difference, since these lambs are less than 3 months old.

You get what you pay for most of the time​

 

[Beekissed]

I would say it depends on what you want the lambs for, really. I am going to pay $90-$110 for St. Croix/Katahdin cross, weaned lambs. I am starting a small flock and want some good bloodlines, so I'm buying directly from the farm. My sister buys all hers as bottle lambs at auction for around $15-$25 a piece. She doesn't know any particulars as to why they are being culled from a herd, if they are sick, full of worms, etc. She doesn't even know for sure what breed they are. She just buys them. Consequently she has had no end to trouble with the sheep she raises and seems to wonder why.

Now, I like a bargain as well as the next guy, but it depends on the purpose of the sheep. If you intend to keep them and breed them or even show them at 4-H, you may want to invest in quality. If you just want to finish them out and butcher, I'd go for the bargain sheep and build them up on your place.

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
That is the way I look at it. I invest good money in the sheep and the goats that will make this place their home. My wool sheep and goats and my dairy goats I shelled out some bucks for them.

The sheep we chose to raise for meat I selected not only for what they were offered to me for but the body type and the size of the animal to produce meat for our table. I have 2 ewes I paid $40 each for. They were in a herd that was over populated and need a place with pasture and some TLC. They are heavy broad ewes that we bred to a very similar heavy broad ram. They have a purpose and they are a good animal for the purpose they were purchased for.

I wouldn't even consider a sheep I paid $250 for as a table meat. Even typing that makes the Scooge McDuck in me shiver.

4H here is a bit of a click. If you get my drift. The 4H summer fair and livestock auction is big bucks. Some of the sheep sell for close to $2K at auction. The more well padded county and town residents are often 'fleeced' to participate and end up with some very pricey table fare.