Hi Rick,
Yes, I've butchered 2- to 3-year-old rams and they taste fine. The
connective tissue in the older rams gets pretty tough, so I generally
have the older animals put into ground meat rather than steaks. There
is no "magic butcher age"; I guess a lot depends on the ram's diet
and environment.
There is a good market for lamb and mutton with the raw dog food
enthusiasts. I think the next time I have a ram older than 3 years to
butcher, I'll go ahead and have his meat ground. If it's too strong
flavored, I can recover the slaughter and packaging fees plus
probably $1.00/lb live weight by selling the meat to the raw dog food folks.
I have no experience with American Blackbelly, so I can't say for
sure. Perhaps an AB breeder can comment on this.
Carol
At 11:17 PM 4/4/2014, you wrote:
Carol, this is the first time I've heard of a 3-year age put on
"good-tasting" meat. Is that for real cuz I've never tried lamb
over 13 months. Secondly, would this only apply to your Barbados
Blackbellies or possibly the American Blackbellies, too? And
finally, what does the meat taste like after 3 years and a month,
surely there is no magic 36 month age? Thanks,
Rick Krachin Auburn, CA
Carol Elkins
Critterhaven--Registered Barbados Blackbelly Hair Sheep
(no shear, no dock, no fuss)
Pueblo, Colorado
http://www.critterhaven.biz
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