SC - Lamb!!! (and kids)

[margali]

You pretty well hit it, Anne. Commercial sheep farming is an awful lot of
work compared to pig farming, which is why I was surprised at the relative
prices of pork in Australia, although I know they farm a lot of sheep. Now,
I could get into micro-farming, and show how sheep could be a very useful
addition to a mini-farm, but unfortunately, most of us in this century and
nation are city folks, and 90+% of what we eat comes from factory-type
operations, resulting in a reduction of quality and an increase of volume.
Look at how well Perdue Chicken sold at higher prices, just because they
are better flavored. But don't tell some family barely making it, with or
without foodstamps, that 49 cent per pound back leg quarters aren't as
good- they don't care, they just need food. If it's cheap that's what
they'll buy, regardless of where they are.

phlip at morganco.net

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider that cain't be throwed.

- ----------
: 
: > I'm referring to the high percentage of prolapsed uteri. With pigs,
: > you  have an occasional sow who lies on her piglets, or tries to eat 
: them,
: > but  modern pens generally prevent that. I don't even try to talk to my 
: vet
: > during lambing around here unless it's an absolute emergency.
: >
: > phlip at morganco.net
: 
: >Well, several sets of twins per ewe and we never had problems with that.
: >maybe it is one of theose inbred things, we has wesleydale dorset ewes
: >and a romney ram. got to love that hybrid vigor!
: >margali
: 
: Margali, I think phil is concerned with the effort per volume.  Your 
: sheep may not be much trouble for the volume of meat they give you.  But 
: if you tried to get the volume of meat which the same number of pigs 
: would give you, it would be considerable trouble. One pig is going to 
: have 10-20 piglets a year, and not all in the spring.  The piglets can be 
: raised for a short while and then sold or eaten.  A sheep is going to 
: have one or maybe two lambs almost exclusively in spring.  Unless you can 
: use or sell the wool, sheep is a pretty expensive meat resource: one or 
: two lamb feasts per year, and eventually a lot of mutton stew.   Pigs can 
: provide sucklings for dinner or sale almost the year round, and 
: eventually meat that preserves well.  OK, I guess all meats preserve 
: equally well, but I've never heard smoked, pickled  or salted mutton 
: being sold in any volume during the modern era or earlier.  
: 
: Admittedly,  I'm thinking of traditional farms where every animal had to 
: earn their keep.  There may well be factory farms these days that somehow 
: produce lamb year round in enough quantity to make a profit without 
: needing to go to the trouble of  the shearing process after the 
: additional effort of making sure the wool ends up a good enough quality 
: to sell.  And I am definately speaking from a non-sheep culture.  Once 
: mill-produced fabric became available soon after the Revolutionary war,  
: farms in the southeastern U.S. ceased keeping the few sheep necessary for 
: having enough wool for household use.  I can only figure that as a meat 
: producer, sheep just don't cut it, but if you live in a country or region 
: dedicated to producing wool (or raise your own wool), you'll end up with 
: lambs as a bonus, and mutton later.  
: Anne
: 
:
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