Lambs are Weaned

The lambs were weaned yesterday which means a lot of crying and baaaing on both fronts- the ewes and the lambs. However some of the ewes seem to be happy to be rid of their babies which are nearly the same size as their moms and lift the moms off the ground when they are nursing.

The lambs will be in the barn for at least a month while we condition them to being away from mom and get the replacement stock their first vaccines.

This year has been a bad year for parasites in sheep here in Ontario. We monitor our flock by fecal tests on a regular basis and deworm as necessary. We also rotate our pastures at least weekly. All that has been to no avail; whether it is parasites that are developing resistance to the products we are using or just conditions we just had to deworm the flock again before we had expected to. We are going to start selecting our breeding stock based on their resistance to parasites and it looks like we have one ewe line that will need to go. The harsh realities of farming.

Later
Laurie

Holy Doodle Batman, Hawk Hill is going High Tech

When personal computers first came out, I was in University... OK I was in graduate school.. but hey I have earned these grey hair. At that point I was a technophobe. I don't think I turned on my Osborne (remember them) for three months after I bought it. Now it is a pretty rare day that I don't spend at least some time on the computer.

The internet has opened incredible training options in webinars, on line journals, discussion groups, training videos. How to vaccinate a lamb is just a click away.

While I am just new to both blogs and social media, I recognize their power in networking people both friends and future clients. That is why I have just started a new Facebook page: Hawk Hill's Lamb Lovers Page. It is a place where those of us who love lamb can share recipes and other information about our favorite food - Lamb.

Check it out and become a fan.

TTFN,
Laurie

Bag of Bones Soup

Many of our clients are new to buying lamb by the side or whole and are unclear as to the process of selecting cuts. We had a very helpful local butcher (who actually teaches butchering) allow us to watch and learn as he processed our lambs. We also have been reading (and cooking) so that we can better advise our clients.

Here is some basic information when ordering lamb.
Unless your supplier is processing a number of lambs at the same time, don't request ground lamb. Almost one pound of meat remains in the grinder and is lost. If you need ground lamb you could process some at home; partially thaw stew meat and run it through your food processor. It won't be perfect but you won't lose as much.

If you want brochette cubes you are going to have to sacrifice a hind leg. This cut provides the best meat for brochettes.

If you want stew meat, the best cut is the shoulder. You could ask for boneless shoulder roast and then cut it for stew meat. However make sure you get the bones back. Cooking the bones in the stew greatly enhances the flavor.

Most of our clients do not want the organ meat. However I recommend they take it anyways. I find the delicate flavour of lamb liver superior to liver from any other animal. It certainly is worth a try. You might find a new addition to your menu.

Many of our clients also don't want the bones. For the most part I think they do not know what to do with them. Soup is the obvious answer. However I want to share some cooking tests that I did with the bones. I love Scotch Broth, a classic lamb based soup so I boiled up a bag of lamb bones. The lamb flavor was weak and totally lost in the soup. When I have made Scotch Broth in the past I have always used the left over leg bone from a roast so the next time I made soup I first roasted the bones in the oven until well browned and then covered them with water and used that to make soup. Wow what a difference. It would have been further improved if I had roasted a few carrots, onions and celery with the bones. Keep an eye on the web site because I will be adding a new recipe for "Bag of Bones Soup". Note: The recipe is now on our web site.

So next time you are ordering a lamb, take it all. It sure will add more tasty diversity to your menu.

Cheers and good eating,
Laurie

July at Hawk Hill

Well there has been quite a bit happening at Hawk Hill since my last post. All our lambs were born. We had 14 live births who now are nearing two months of age and are growing like weeds. Three of the purebred lambs are available for breeding stock and we are keeping 4 of the crossbred ewes for our own commercial flock. The balance are to be sold as market lamb. We absolutely love the Tunis/Cheviot cross lamb. They are hardy, fast growing and beautiful. There looks like a lot of nice legs in this picture.
Our cattle plans have changed radically since my last post. We took delivery of the two cows early in May and the first of the cows calved out in the middle of June. After she calved, she became extraordinarily aggressive and put me in the hospital. I have been out of commission for the balance of June and July healing.The cows are gone and we will just raise up our steers. After they get shipped next summer, we will change our focus to poultry and raise some guinea fowl.

We also made a really difficult decision and sold privately and by auction 10 of our horses in June. We now have 4 horses (Three Canadians and one Arab Canadian cross) for our own use. Lucan and Lilac are heading out for refresher training this fall. We are going to focus on getting ourselves and our horses out riding and driving.

Now we are hoping for the weather to improve so we can finish the hay.

TTFN,
Laurie