How To Butcher A Lamb
If you're new to raising your own meat, you should learn how to butcher a lamb. In the springtime, spring lamb (less than eight weeks old) is a popular delicacy. But any sheep under a year old is considered a lamb, and is a popular meat. It has a much more tender flesh and milder flavor than yearling or mutton or two year old sheep.
To butcher a lamb you will need:
- electric saw
- game hanger
- Make sure you have all the supplies you need before you begin, because you won't want to traipse back into the house once there's blood on your shoes. Catch one of those little lambs in the pen, and tie its front and then its back legs together. If it can move, you're liable to miss, and either it will suffer or you'll shoot the wrong animal. Butcher the lamb by shooting it in the head.
- Cut off the wool on the neck to expose the skin and cut from one shoulder to the other. Allow the blood to drain out.
- Take the guts out by sliding your knife just under the skin of the belly below the ribs. Make sure not to cut the anus or intestines or you'll release dangerous bacteria into your meat. Cut through the rib cage to take out all of the internal organs. Put these in your bucket.
- Use the game hanger and hang the animal upside down to drain for an hour or so.
- Cut off the head, legs and tail, and then cut the skin and pull it off.
- Now check a butcher's diagram and separate the lamb into cuts of meat.
To avoid food borne illness, make sure that your tools are all sterilized and that you wrap, date and store it properly.