On recommendation from Mr.B (our sheep mentor) we took our 3, six month old ram lambs to his friend P-E for their 'one bad day'. It was P-E who made the whole experience very calming with his measured approach and the careful way in which he handled our
beloved ram lambs. In the end, it happened so quickly, without any panic or
distress that we returned home feeling a sense of pride that we had managed the whole process from birth to slaughter for the very first time.
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| Our 3 ram lambs including offal |
As I mentioned in the previous post, we had began our journey to a more sustainable lifestyle knowing that we would have to one day slaughter our own animals to provide us with food. Firstly, we wanted to know that the food on our plate had had a good life and had been reared properly and secondly, it had been given a natural diet i.e grass-fed. Ultimately, we wanted to know everything about the meat we were eating. So for us this was a very important stage in realizing this dream.
The 'one bad day' started with us driving the ram lambs to P-E who owns a little farm not far from ours. P-E has a professional set-up in one of his barns. and with no one else around, in tranquil surroundings, we immediately felt at home. We brought out the first ram lamb and made sure the others could not see or fear anything (they were well-stocked with good grass to munch on). P-E slaughtered the first, removed the skin, bagged the intestines and removed the internal organs. The remainder of the body was weighed and then moved into a chilling room to hang at the correct temperature. It all happened so smoothly.
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| The skin being removed. |
We wanted to make use of the entire animal, even down to the blood that was drained into a bowl for us. And we will use everything, if not to eat, then to use as compost, or for our other animals to eat.
The remaining two rams were slaughtered at the same time, with the third one brought out directly after the second, so it was not left on its own.
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| Offal cuts: lung, liver, heart and kidneys |
Being our first time, we were incredible nervous and wanted to make sure that our ram lambs were well looked after and they were kept as calm as possible. In essence the ram lambs' best interests were a priority for us. We feel that we achieved this and are pleased with the outcome of our first lamb slaughter.
