As I took our daily walk on the farm this morning with our rambunctious toddler, our favorite time of the day, we were so excited to see if there were more new lambs that were born. He led the way, running straight to the sheep pasture, visiting his farm animal family. Screaming, “baaa”, he ran up to the gate and we noticed a couple more baby lambs than the day before. It has been such an exciting time. We’ve had so many lamb births from the beginning of the year, that we’ve lost count.
When we started our farm, Local Lands, back in 2010, we had to make decisions on what animals we wanted to raise, the specific breeds and for what purpose. There were many options to choose from. We love the peaceful and calm nature of lambs, plus they taste great too!
A fellow sheep farmer recommended raising Katahdin and Dorper lambs for their meat. These sheep breeds are superior for pasture raising as they require little maintenance. They also don’t have much hair, so they are breeds raised for their meat rather than for their wool. We make our own non-GMO grain feed for our animals. The last 3 months before we take our lambs to the slaughter, in addition to their natural diet, they receive our non-GMO grain feed for 3 months. This helps with the marbleization of the meat, adding extra fat and flavor to the cuts that our customers love.
We recently acquired ½ Katahdin, ¼ Dorset and ¼ Dorper rams. We breed these rams with our Katahdin and Dorper lambs to increase the flavor of the meat. We started this new breeding style recently and would love your feedback in regards to how our lambs taste.
We will have some lamb meat for purchase within the next couple of months, just in time for the Holiday Season. Stay tuned!
