General

 

All our animals are fed pesticide/herbicide-free grass and weeds on our farm, hay (grown locally), and a small amount of grains (late pregnancy, early lactation) that are 100% organic, non-GMO and soy-free.  Except when treating a specific infection or disease, our animals are not given any medicine whatsoever. Within a day of birth, our lambs are given an injection of boron and selenium, micronutrients that are essential to muscle development: central Oregon soils are deficient, and so then are the plants and the animals that graze on them.

 

Sheep and sheep meat have three names related to their age: 1) Lamb = an animal less than 14 months old, 2) hogget = an animal between 14 and 24 months and 3) mutton = animals older than 24 months. For more information check here or here

 

Other definitions are: 1) live weight = the weight of the living animal on the hoof, 2) hanging weight = the animal carcass minus skin, head and innards, and 3) cut and wrapped = what you take out of the freezer and prepare to cook.  Accepted rules of thumb are that if live weight is 100%, hanging weight is approximately 50% and cut and wrap weight ± 35%.

 

All animals must be purchased as a live animal in a minimum quantity of half an animal.  Anker Farm can help find a partner to purchase a whole animal together.