With lambs settled down since weaning, the attention on many sheep farms is now primarily focused on drafting lambs for market.

In the below video, Michael Gottstein, Teagasc Head of Sheep Knowledge Transfer, gives an overview of drafting lambs for sale and the key points to consider.

Michael explains that the first and most important point when selecting lambs for market is to identify the market you have. There are two distinct markets that most of the lambs in Ireland go for – factory type lamb and a butcher type lamb.

Michael also notes that the liveweight of lambs will vary from time to time, depending on issues such as time of weighing, if their fleeces are long or wet and if they have been fasting. These factors need to be taken into account when you are weighing the lambs and when you are monitoring your kill outs. Ideally the farmer should monitor the liveweight of the lambs and correlate those to the factory kill outs. This will give you a good idea as to how your lambs are killing out.

Another important factor is fat cover. When we are handling lambs to weigh them or to access the fat cover, it is very important that we handle them carefully so that we do not damage the carcass, as it reduces the visual appeal of the meat and the sale value of that carcass.

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