Average weight of a live ram, after cutting, one year old, how to calculate, how to achieve growth

Subtleties of reproduction

The breeding season for meat sheep begins in the fall, in October, and lasts until January. The gestation period is 5.5 months. During the mating period, breeding rams are supplemented with oat and barley chaff and hay. Sheep need to diversify their diet with vegetables and provide plenty of fluids.

For lambing, the premises must be clean, manure must be removed and bedding changed. Sheep can stand or lie down while giving birth. Therefore, you need to put a thick layer of clean straw on the floor to prevent the baby from getting injured or contracting an infection.

A sheep licks a newborn lamb and feeds it milk. If there are more than two cubs in the litter, they will have to be artificially fed. One female can feed no more than two lambs.

After childbirth, you need to check whether the afterbirth - the membrane of the fetus - has come out. Usually it comes out immediately or after feeding newborns. If the placenta does not come out or comes out partially, you need to contact a veterinarian. Due to the retention of the membrane during the day, inflammation of the uterus develops.

Relevance of the niche

In livestock farming, the business of sheep breeding is relevant. They are less susceptible to diseases, which is a favorable factor for this industry. In Russia this direction is quite promising.

Let's consider the advantages of sheep farming as a direction in livestock farming:

Opportunity to receive government support for agricultural development;
Small start-up investment;
Low feed costs;
High demand for lamb with low competition;
Year-round production;
Minimum requirements for conditions of detention;
Rapid maturation and livestock growth;
Easy process.

As you can see, this business is very profitable for the entrepreneur, since the rapid increase in livestock fully justifies the costs and generates income in the shortest possible time.

But there is one significant drawback that should be mentioned. This is a low profitability, which is about 15 - 20 percent. It is also necessary to keep in mind that the first income will have to be reinvested into improving the sheep herd. In order to ensure a steadily growing and reliable business.

However, the demand for sheep products (meat, wool, milk) is constantly growing and, according to statistics, amounts to 2 - 2.5 tons.

Thus, we see three components of the success of sheep farming as a business - these are minor start-up investments, consistently high demand, and minimal requirements for living conditions. Therefore, this type of activity is an ideal option for farming.

Carcass cutting

Skinning

Cutting up a carcass is a simple but painstaking job. You need to start by removing the skin.

It is most convenient to work on a table. If this is not possible, you can do this on the floor, observing all hygiene rules.

Stages of skinning a sheep carcass:

The carcass must be placed on the table with its back.
Make a small incision no more than 3 cm in the knee area.
A pipe or dagger must be inserted between the skin and the meat to separate them from each other.
When clamping the cut with the help of a tube, it is necessary to allow air to pass through. This will create an air bubble. It makes peeling the skin much easier. The bubble should be distributed throughout the body, except for the chest area. To spread the bubble throughout the carcass, you need to gently slap it.
Next, you need to separate the skin with a knife or dagger, leaving it only on the back.
By making a cut at the knee and passing a rope through it, you can easily hang the carcass and separate the skin from the back.

Removing the entrails

To remove the internal organs, you need to properly cut the sheep along the abdominal cavity. The organs should be visible, but they should not be damaged. This is especially true for the gallbladder.

The correct way to remove the insides of a sheep is as follows:

The first step is to remove and bandage the rectum. Make an incision into the trachea and pull out the esophagus. Remove the heart and lungs. Next, you need to work with the liver as carefully as possible.

The gallbladder should be separated from the liver with the utmost care. The stomach and intestines are covered with a so-called omentum; it must be removed. Then, while the meat is still fresh, you need to move on to cutting the carcass.

Cutting scheme

Now let's talk about how to properly cut a sheep and not spoil the carcass:

The carcass is divided into two parts: front and back. It is necessary to make an incision across the abdomen all the way to the back. When the knife touches the spine, you should bend the carcass, making an incision between the vertebrae. Sometimes it is difficult to cut the spine with a knife, then you can use an ax, it must be clean

It is important not to crush the bones of the spine, so you need to cut between the vertebrae. Next you need to work on the back of the carcass. We separate the tail fat first, then the legs.

To do this, joints are used, they need to be loosened. Then make an incision along the tendon. It is necessary to separate the hindquarters and femur along the acetabulum. The front part should be cut starting from the legs. The process is almost identical to cutting off the hind legs. Then you need to separate the ribs on both sides from the spine.

Whether to remove the fat layer is an individual choice for everyone. Fatty meat lovers do not need to do this at all. If you prefer lean lamb, then it is better to separate the fat. By the way, you shouldn’t throw it away - lamb fat is healthy and is actively used in various folk recipes, as well as in cooking.

How to cut a lamb into pieces can be seen in the diagram below.

Preserving the skin

There are two ways to preserve hides:

wet salted;
fly-salted.

To implement the first method, you need to find a place in the shade where sunlight does not reach. The skin is laid with the flesh side up, melted and sprinkled with a thick layer of salt. You can forget about it for three days, then, if the salt has been absorbed, you need to sprinkle it again. After three days, the skin can be folded and rolled, starting from the neck.

The first steps of the second method are identical to the first, and then the following steps are performed:

A few days after salting, the skin must be hung, positioned with a ridge on a pole.
You need to let the sheepskin dry. The temperature should not be higher than 20 degrees.
You need to dry the skin on both sides: with the inside up and with the fur out. You can add naphthalene to the salt to protect the skin from pests.

As you can see, properly cutting a sheep carcass is not so difficult.

Business registration

An important stage in starting any activity is the correct execution of documents. However, unlike a number of other activities, sheep breeding can be entered into the register as a farm or peasant enterprise. In this case, a novice businessman receives a lot of advantages. First of all, he can use unlimited land plots. At the same time, the state provides assistance to such projects. Therefore, there is every chance to receive a grant and financial assistance.

After entering into the tax register, you need to make a corresponding entry in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and register with the peasant farm. After receiving all the documents, you must appear at the SES and obtain the necessary permission.

Properties of goat meat

Despite the fact that store shelves are full of various types of meat products, it is quite difficult to find goat meat in a wide range. Goat meat is not in great demand among modern consumers, and this is completely in vain, because it has a range of useful components that make it possible to normalize the functioning of many internal systems of the human body.

Taste qualities

Despite the fact that there is an opinion about the specific taste and aroma of goat meat, it has an excellent taste and a neutral smell. An unpleasant aroma can occur in goat meat only if the basic rules for cutting the carcass are not followed, when, during removal of the meat, the contents of the bladder or intestines get into the flesh.

The meat of an old or uncastrated animal has an unpleasant aroma and rough texture. With proper skinning, the meat of a young goat turns out to be very juicy, tender, extremely tasty and also delicious. 100 g of product contains 216 kcal.

Its nutritional value is:

proteins - 18–20%;
fats - 16–18%;
carbohydrates - 0%;
water - 80%.

You might be interested to know how much milk a goat produces per day.

Benefit

The rich chemical composition of goat meat determines a wide range of its beneficial qualities.

It includes:

Vitamins: group of vitamins B, A, E, PP.
Amino acids: valine, lysine, leucine, threonine, tryptophan.
Micro- and macroelements: phosphorus, sodium, sulfur, magnesium, zinc, chlorine.

However, the greatest value is protein, which makes up more than 20%. The protein composition is represented by a number of unique proteins that are easily absorbed by the human body.

By regularly consuming goat meat, you can:

normalize the functioning of the digestive organs: gastrointestinal tract, intestines;
strengthen the immune system, increase the body's protective functions;
restore the functions of the reproductive system, in particular the prostate gland;
reduce the level of “bad” cholesterol in the blood;
strengthen the walls of blood vessels, improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system;
improve the condition of the skin, hair and nails;
normalize metabolic processes.

Harm and contraindications

There are no special contraindications to eating goat meat. The only prohibition for taking goat meat is considered to be individual intolerance. However, according to statistics, such negative reactions to goat meat are extremely rare.

Goats are of high value in the household and are a source of not only healthy dairy products, but also dietary meat. However, in order to obtain fresh, nutritious meat, without a specific odor, when slaughtering an animal, you should strictly observe the basic principles of slaughter and cutting technology.

Conditions and care

The choice of maintenance method depends on the financial capabilities of the farmer and the climate in the region. The most economical option is to graze on open pasture all year round. The meat of such sheep is valued higher - as an environmentally friendly product. It is convenient to keep sheep on pasture in the southern regions. But usually free grazing is combined with barn keeping, since animals and shepherds need shelter from bad weather and the midday sun. In the shed the sheep are looked after more carefully:

trim the hooves once every 2 months;
for the winter, heated drinking bowls are installed;
fed 3 times a day.

In the stalls, it is necessary to change the bedding and remove manure so that the animals’ valuable fur does not get dirty. Sheep on pasture do not come into contact with manure, so their wool is cleaner than that of cattle in a sheepfold.

Pasture

Meat breed sheep are grazed on natural or artificial pasture. The best terrain for grazing is dry land, steppe, and mountain slopes. Steppe pastures provide vitamin nutrition in the spring. Dry and mountainous areas are the most valuable and versatile.

When choosing a location, pay attention to the growing grasses. Hogweed, legumes, white clover and timothy are useful for meat sheep. Dangerous and poisonous plants are red clover, the ranunculaceae family, horsetail and feather grass.

Koshara

Keeping in a sheepfold is used as the main method of raising meat sheep. If animals will be constantly indoors, it is necessary to provide them with comfortable conditions:

bright lighting - in the dark the reproductive capacity of rams decreases, so daylight hours need to be increased with lamps;
warm floor - you need to pour a layer of straw on a hard clay surface;
fresh air - in a closed sheepfold it is necessary to equip a ventilation system.

When building a building, they calculate how many square meters of stall are required per herd.

Number of cubic meters per animal:

lamb - 0.7;
ram - 3;
sheep with newborn lambs - 2.5.

For walking, a platform measuring 4 square meters per individual and with a fence 1.5 meters high is built. Depending on the size of the building and the number of animals, the entrance is designed. In a small shed, a door 1.5 meters wide is installed so that one sheep can freely pass through the opening. For large herds, double-leaf gates are installed.

They also provide a separate entrance to the feed room and an entrance for trucks.

Feeders with large-mesh protective mesh are installed along the stalls. The sheep will stick their heads through the mesh, but will not trample the food. Drinkers with a volume of 10 liters will provide livestock with plenty of water. The material for feeders and drinkers is wood. The following technical rooms are being set up in the sheepfold:

feed storage;
haircut room;
slaughter department.

You will also need a separate cold room for storing carcasses.

How long does a sheep grow to slaughter weight?

Lambs of meat breeds quickly increase in weight. At four months they gain half the weight of adult animals, and by one year they almost completely catch up with them. Fattening begins at four months of age, and after 4 months the lambs are released for meat. Daily weight gain depends on the breed and diet. Muscle mass increases up to six months.

Experienced farmers sell meat when the rams reach ten months of age. Animals reach their maximum weight at this age, so fattening them further is not profitable. Sheep eat a lot, but gain little weight. Adult rams and ewes are fattened for 2 months after lambing. On average, rams grow from birth to slaughter for 8-9 months.

Preserving the skin

Once the carcass has been bled, the skin is removed. An incision is made around the head behind the ears with a knife and the body is separated from the head - between the occipital bone and the first cervical vertebra. To prevent the contents of the esophagus from leaking out, the organ must be tied up with twine in advance. Next, a transverse incision is made along the bottom of the neck and chest in the center of the abdomen to the anus. Then, circular incisions are made in the forelimbs along the carpal joints and a skin incision is made along the inside of the legs through the armpits, at a right angle, to the middle transverse incision of the chest.

Note: Once the skinning of the front legs, chest and lower neck is complete, begin skinning the hind legs. To do this, make circular incisions on the hock joints, from them with straight incisions on the inside of the legs to the groin, and then in the direction of the anus to the central transverse incision of the abdomen. Parts of the lower hind legs at the hock joint are separated with the skin. An incision is then made around the anus, however, in females, incisions are made around the external genitalia.

The skin is removed from the remaining part of the hind legs with a knife (carefully so as not to spoil the tendons), from the stomach, groin, about 5-10 cm from the cut. The procedure is then continued using a fist or the handle of a knife, from the center of the carcass to the shoulder blades, and then towards the thigh. If the carcass is lying down, it must be lifted. The skin is separated from the thigh part of the carcass with the handle of a knife or a fist, after making an incision in advance and removing it from the tail, it is torn off from the neck and back by hand. During this, you need to be careful and make sure that no lard or meat remains on the skin.

Figure 3. Recommendations for cutting lamb carcass

After cooling, they immediately move on to preserving the skin, since it is damaged by rotting bacteria, which, if not removed in a timely manner, begin to become slimy after 6 hours (a sign of the initial stage of rotting). The most common method of canning is dry pickling. For this method of canning, ordinary salt is used, without foreign additives. Fine salt is best used for small skins. They are laid with the wool down, spread on a clean floor sprinkled with an even layer of salt, carefully straightened and sprinkled with salt on top (proportion of 300 grams of salt per 1 kg of weight). Upon completion of thorough rubbing of salt, the skin is rolled up in the form of a bag with the wool inward. The folded edges are also sprinkled with salt.

Market analysis

At the moment, a suitable period has emerged for the implementation of the idea of breeding sheep as a business.

There is little competition in this niche. Which leads to a reduction in financial risks and to a pricing policy aimed at maximizing the entrepreneur’s profit.

The trend towards a reduction in the number of sheep was a consequence of high demand for products and low competition.

Statistics on the number of sheep in private farms indicate that business in this direction is promising. According to the numbers, this is approximately 10 million individuals. Due to their territorial location, not all regions of Russia are suitable for this type of business. The southern and central regions are considered acceptable for this.

These are the Caucasus, Stavropol and Krasnodar territories, the Southern Urals and the Volga region. The listed areas are provided with the most fertile areas for walking animals.

Different breeds of sheep adapt differently to different climates and natural conditions. The most suitable for meat and fat breeds are regions with cold climates and mountains. For coarse-haired dogs - the North Caucasus, for fine-haired dogs - the Central regions. The best climate for raising sheep is in the Caucasus, where the largest number of farms and pastures are found.

Cutting

First, you need to remove the skin from the lamb and take out the insides. Place the carcass on its back, on a work table or clean surface, and make a 3-centimeter incision near the knee of the hind leg. Insert the tube between the skin and the meat, separating them. Then pinch the cut near the tube and blow air through it. An air bubble will appear. It is necessary to pat the edge so that the air passes everywhere except the brisket.

Place the incision into the genital area. Do the same on the other side. The skin must be removed with a knife - go through the front legs and shoulder blades to the knee. You can leave the ankles with the skin. Now the skin remains only on the back. Cut the knees, pass the rope and attach it to the ankles.

Hanging the ram in front of you, pull the skin down. Preparing the skin and storing it is a separate procedure and can be done later, but we need to quickly butcher the fresh carcass.

Cutting parts of lamb carcass

Using a knife, make a puncture below the navel, spread it apart and cut upward, revealing the intestines. Having reached the top, place the container for the entrails closer, separate the rectum, and then bandage it. Clamp the esophagus and pull it out. After this, you need to cut the membrane, take the trachea and pull out the lungs with the heart. Very carefully separate the liver from the gallbladder, remove the omentum from the stomach and intestines. The kidneys remain under the fat on the carcass. Then you can proceed directly to cutting the lamb.

The gutted carcass is divided in half along the sacral vertebra. First you need to separate the ribs, legs and neck. As a rule, the neck is not divided, since the whole goes into the dish, and the ribs are good for roasting.

The back of the loin is cut off separately. This is a tender fillet for the most sophisticated dishes. The brisket is great grilled or served as chops. Next, the brisket and kidney parts are separated from the carcass. To cook fatty but tasty meat from the brisket, you must first separate it from the bones.

The hind legs take the longest to cut. Essentially it is a large, lean piece of meat with few bones. The leg of lamb can be divided into loin and shank.

Remember that the larger the piece of lamb, the better it stores. Do not try to cut the carcass into too small pieces.

Purchasing sheep

When buying meat breed rams, pay attention to the appearance of adult animals and the weight of the lambs.

Adults

Signs of a healthy ram:

strong physique;
wide chest;
clean fur, eyes and ears.

Breeding males should weigh 100 kilograms. Yarok is distinguished by an elastic, round udder.

Young animals

Young meat lambs are selected for the same qualities as adults. You should check with the seller what vaccinations the animal has received. It is important to check the bite of young animals. If the teeth are not positioned correctly, sheep will be unable to chew solid food and gain weight.

Diet

The menu for ram meat breeds consists of three components:

green food - fresh grass for pasture, silage in winter;
roughage - straw from green legumes, barley, oats, alfalfa hay, clover, canned haylage;
vegetables - fodder beets, carrots, pumpkin, zucchini;
concentrates - grains of wheat, oats, corn, bran, sunflower cake.

Daily ration of adult sheep for fattening:

Product	Norm in kilograms
Product	For adult animals	For lambs up to 6 months
Clover or alfalfa hay	1,5-2	1,5
Silage, fresh grass	2-5	1,5
Concentrate	0,5	0,3

To quickly gain weight, animals require proteins. Their highest content is in concentrates from peas, barley and corn. They also give mineral supplements - chalk is mixed into the crushed grain. Feeders for fattened animals are constantly filled. Concentrates are given after the sheep have drunk, and green and roughage - before the water is supplied.

How to attract more clients

To expand your customer base, it is recommended to visit agricultural fairs and send your offers to potential buyers who are ready for wholesale purchases. It would be a good idea to create your own website and indicate prices for products on it. If finances allow, you can order advertising on television or distribute advertising booklets on the street. Some organize school trips. Children love animals, and parents may become interested in fresh meat while visiting such areas. It is worth offering customers favorable discounts and promotions. This is especially true for those who are asking for meat not for the first time.

You can also talk about your activities in the newspaper, start a channel on YouTube and much more. The more people know about such a farm, the faster decent income will come.

Thus, we can say that such an idea for business is quite relevant. At the same time, we should not forget that the owner of such a farm, as well as his entire family, will always eat fresh meat completely free of charge. Therefore, the monthly profit is much higher. If you involve children and relatives in working on the farm, you can also reduce labor costs.

Sale

Keeping sheep brings income from three areas:

wool
meat.

Selling wool and milk is an additional income, but not the main one. Since the price for 2022 has fallen in the market.

Milk is purchased in small quantities to create cheese products.

All income comes from the sale of meat.

There are three ways to sell meat:

slaughter animals individually for further sale
sell wholesale
secure your goods for sale in factories.

Farmers who run rural businesses prefer to sell meat from their own personal point in the market.

The presence of regular customers makes it possible to increase profitability, for whom animals are slaughtered and subsequently sold.

Rules for cutting a carcass

All actions for cutting a sheep carcass are carried out using a knife, an ax is not used. Although sometimes an ax is allowed to be used in exceptional cases. When cutting a sheep carcass, you should adhere to the following order.

To begin the process of skinning the carcass, the drumsticks are separated from it at the joints. Then the skin is trimmed along the chest and abdomen and, without touching the meat, the skin is successively separated from the carcass. You need to start with the legs, and then begin to free the torso. You need to act carefully so that pieces of meat and lard do not remain on it. The skin is removed from the back and rump by hand, only slightly helping with a knife. The removed skin can be used as bedding for further cutting of the carcass.

Removing the entrails

The next step is to remove the insides. The abdominal cavity is cut lengthwise to such a depth that the internal organs are exposed but not damaged

It is especially important not to damage the gallbladder, otherwise all the meat will not be edible. The peritoneum is incised and pulled apart with both hands in different directions.

Removal of the viscera begins with the rectum, which is separated and bandaged. The esophagus is then pulled out and the trachea is incised.

After skinning, you must carefully remove the entrails from the carcass. Lungs and heart are removed from the carcass

Then they continue to work with the liver: the gallbladder is separated from it with the utmost care. The stomach and intestines of the sheep are covered with an omentum that must be carefully removed

Lungs and heart are removed from the carcass

The intestines and entrails are lowered into a clean basin, and the inner surface of the carcass is dried with rags.

Carcass cutting

The ram carcass is divided into two parts - front and back. An incision is made from the abdomen to the back on both sides. When the knife touches the spine, the carcass must be sharply bent and an incision made between the vertebrae. If you cannot cut the ridge with a knife, you can use an ax. You need to act carefully so as not to crush the bones of the spine.

Further work continues on the rear. First of all, the fat of the tail is separated. Then the legs are separated from the carcass at the joints. The femur is separated from the hindquarters along the acetabulum. The joint becomes loose and is cut off at the tendons. The pelvic bones can be cut into 2-3 parts or the sacrum can be left as a whole.

The carcass, freed from skin and entrails, is cut into pieces.

Cutting the front begins with cutting off the forelimbs. The rib portions on both sides of the spine are then separated from the spine. Lamb ribs are cut into portioned pieces using a hacksaw. The length of the ribs is 12-13 centimeters. Lastly, the neck is cut off from the carcass.

Further cutting depends on taste preferences. If you need lean meat, remove all the fat from a piece of meat. Fatty lamb lovers may not want to do this.

Important. Lamb carcass contains a large amount of internal fat, but it must be stored separately from the upper

Slaughter

Animal preparation and procedure:

hair is cut a month before the procedure;
transferred to a separate room one day before;
They don’t feed you, but they give you something to drink;
the sheep is tied up and its throat is cut in a lying or hanging position;
drain blood;
skinned and butchered.

The carcass should be cut into large pieces, since small ones are stored less. Sheep are calm and intellectually undeveloped animals. Therefore, they do not anticipate danger before slaughter.