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Step 1
Make sure the lambs you are looking at are the right age and size. At the end of your project the ideal weight for a finished market lamb is 125 lbs. The average market lamb gains approximately 0.6lbs a day. When choosing a market lamb for your project take the lamb’s current weight and add 0.6 lbs for each day until the end of the project and decide if the lamb is either to small or to large. The average age of a market lamb at the beginning of the project is approximately three-months-old.
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Step 2
Don’t choose a market lamb because it has a pretty face or sad eyes. This is a lamb that is going to end up in someone’s freezer at the end of the summer, the person who buys it is thinking about lamb chops and that’s what you should be thinking about to. When looking at potential market lambs look at the lamb’s physique and not its face.
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Step 3
When selecting your next market lambs you want to look for a lamb that shows signs of strong muscling through its loin area (the space from the last rib to the lamb’s flank). In addition to having a strong loin the ideal market lamb will also have well developed hind quarters. The most valuable cuts of meat come from the hind quarters and loin.
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Step 4
Market lambs have to be structurally proper. At three-months-old the lamb should have a well-balanced skeletal system. Avoid lambs that have obvious conformation faults.
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Step 5
Sick lambs do not gain weight. Do not purchase a market lamb that looks like it is sick. Also stay away from any lambs that look like they are depressed as this could be a sign of illness.
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Step 6
Go with your instincts.
