Organic 100% Grass Fed Hogget
If you are not ready to try the stronger flavour of mutton or have been put off by the stigma then why not dip your toe in to the more traditional world of meats with 'Hogget'. Hogget is sheep meat of lambs that have there 'teeth up' I.e usually around 1 year old young sheep get their first set of adult teeth and are then no longer classed as 'lamb' this period then goes on until they become Mutton at approximately 2 years of age.
Many of the traditional and native breeds of sheep are naturally small and slow to grow and fatten, this means that many hill breed do not 'finish quick enough to be classed as lamb. In the abattoir a young sheep with its 'teeth up' has to have the spinal cord removed and this incurs a charge and devaluation.
Some hill farmers have responded to this challenge by fattening lambs quickly with cereals and wintering on lush pastures away and selling the young sheep before they get to their first birthday. The disadvantage to this is that the consumer ends up with a very small meat cut with a large proportion of fat due to the lack of natural size.
Herdwick Hogget was traditionally in the lake district from 2 year old male shearing sheep. This is a very specific sheep meat that would not naturally occur in a modern farming setting. In the lake District the High fell areas are divided into ‘Heafs’, these are areas that the sheep have been shepherded to graze without fences and the sheep get to know their territories with time and pass this knowledge to their lambs and so on. All ‘heafs’ are subject to invasion by neighbouring flocks and to maintain the areas of grazing farmers would keep some young castrated males who would be more territorial and stop the sheep straying outward.
Our Hogget is from Easy care lambs that have passed their first birthday and will be available from May for a couple of months only, towards Autumn we will then start to utilise the lambs that become fat of the summer grass. Our hogget is 100% grass fed reared to organic standards.
Many of the traditional and native breeds of sheep are naturally small and slow to grow and fatten, this means that many hill breed do not 'finish quick enough to be classed as lamb. In the abattoir a young sheep with its 'teeth up' has to have the spinal cord removed and this incurs a charge and devaluation.
Some hill farmers have responded to this challenge by fattening lambs quickly with cereals and wintering on lush pastures away and selling the young sheep before they get to their first birthday. The disadvantage to this is that the consumer ends up with a very small meat cut with a large proportion of fat due to the lack of natural size.
Herdwick Hogget was traditionally in the lake district from 2 year old male shearing sheep. This is a very specific sheep meat that would not naturally occur in a modern farming setting. In the lake District the High fell areas are divided into ‘Heafs’, these are areas that the sheep have been shepherded to graze without fences and the sheep get to know their territories with time and pass this knowledge to their lambs and so on. All ‘heafs’ are subject to invasion by neighbouring flocks and to maintain the areas of grazing farmers would keep some young castrated males who would be more territorial and stop the sheep straying outward.
Our Hogget is from Easy care lambs that have passed their first birthday and will be available from May for a couple of months only, towards Autumn we will then start to utilise the lambs that become fat of the summer grass. Our hogget is 100% grass fed reared to organic standards.