Carol J. Elkins
Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:20:11 -0800
We all have sheep who, for one reason or another, need to be euthanized. In most cases, it is old age or health issues such as the recent post about horn growth endangering the animal's quality of life. I've eaten blackbelly ram as old as 2.5 years, and although the meat tasted marvelous, the connecting tissue was very tough, making the overall eating experience not much fun at all. So now when I must euthanize an old sheep, I try to find a buyer for the meat at the local raw pet food Yahoo groups. They are always eager to get any meat as long as it costs less than about $1.00 per pound. They are happy with 5-lb chunks and nothing has to resemble a "professional cut." I butcher on farm, which allows me to keep most of that $1.00/lb, but it would still be worth these people's time if they wanted the meat cut and wrapped at the butcher shop. I just wouldn't get much profit. But if it is a choice between almost giving a carcass away versus having to dig a really big hole to bury it in, I opt for selling the meat at whatever cost. I also target the raw pet food market for cull sheep and (unfortunately) ram lambs that I simply do not have enough pasture to raise to butchering weight. To find raw pet food Yahoo groups in your vicinity, go to http://groups.yahoo.com and search for carnivore+food or carnivore+raw or similar terms. Add your state name to the search string to narrow the results to your region. One of these days, I hope to be able to switch my own pets to a totally raw diet, but it would need to include more than just lamb; I'd need to mix in chicken and whatever other meats I could get for cheap. Right now, I don't have time to scavenge for pet food. But there sure are a lot of people out there who are willing to find the time. Carol _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info