Dautobi Acres
Member
Katahdin Hair Sheep International OPP Concerned Sheep Breeders Society
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance Native Prairies Association of Texas
Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
The Livestock Conservancy
dautobiacres @ yahoo.com
Dautobi Acres
P.O. Box 336
Leonard, TX 75452
Lambs move directly from our pastures to the processor. A very short distribution chain to ensure a pure product and a good price. Three parties are involved in the final product - Us (the farm), the processor and YOU !
Raised on organically maintained pasture
Antibiotic free and no added hormones
Direct relationship between producer and consumer
Local, low volume processor
Low stress, humane treatment
No pesticides or herbicides
No tail docking No implants
Humane deterrent of lamb predators (coyotes, dogs)
Flock tested free of OPP, CL and Johne's diseases
Our lambs are born here on
the farm and raised using the lowest stress methods and humane handling. Our flock grazes on pastures never sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. We produce our lamb with an emphasis on grass-fed nutrition. We do NOT use feedlots, added hormones (implants) or antibiotics. We do not dock lambs (cut off thier tails).
Medications are not fed in feed or injected as part of the lambs diet. Our flock is tested for specific diseases to insure healthy animals. The meat is inspected and packaged by a state licensed, family owned, low volume processor. No additives are used in the lamb meat. The meat is not irradiated nor soaked in any solutions. The processor adds nothing to the meat (unless you ask).
Besides grass, browse, legumes, forbs and hay, our sheep and lambs are offered seasonal supplements such as alfalfa, black oil sunflower seeds, whole oats, sea kelp meal,molasses and a salt/mineral mix. We seed different pastures of the farm each year to generate new vegetation for the lambs and ewes.
Grass, legumes, forbs and their mother's milk make up the vast majority of our butcher lambs diet. Our butcher lambs never receive antibiotics, medications, chemical dewormers or added hormones. They are not sprayed with fly pesticides or dipped in chemicals (usually reserved for wool sheep). We have never needed to use medicated hoof baths or coccidiostats.
We personally deliver all our lambs and sheep to local family owned processors. We invite you to call/email them to ask any questions about how they can cut and wrap your order. Our processing dates are set as lambs mature and the processor has an open day. The processors typically allow a week or two after processing for you to pickup your meat. All the lamb meat is frozen unless special arrangements are made with the processor.
Supporting small farms helps keep open areas open, they are more inviting to wildlife than a parking lot or fast food place or housing addition ! Our pastures and ponds support many types of birds, small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans and pollinators. If you are concerned about the watershed, food shed and/or carbon sequestration, keep supporting your local, small farms.
Lifetime Member
Ranger and Scout (as pups), livestock guardian dogs (aka sheep dogs). These dogs provide a humane way to deter predators from the sheep flock. Their presence deters coyotoes from hunting the lambs and encourages them to hunt rabbits, etc. on the other side of the fence. Coyotes and our dogs do not fight or attack one another, as coyotes are very wary and stay far away from the presence of any domestic dogs. Our dogs and sheep are safe inside the fenced pasture. The coyotes stay on the other side of the fence. At least they have for the past 24 years. Coyotes are very smart and teach their pups where and what to hunt. If a rancher/farmer prevents that first kill, the next generation of coyote pups will not learn that sheep/lambs are easy prey. The parents teach them to hunt rabbits, rodents, snakes, etc. and not protected sheep. So you don't want to have the flock of sheep that are not protected. Bobcats, hawks and falcons still get lucky and snatch a few chickens and/or very young turkeys from time to time. But that's the price you pay for moving into the animals habitat out in the country. If you want to live in a rural area, don't expect every animal to step aside and leave thier home because you showed up. They don't have any other place to go due to encroachment. If you cannot live with wildlife, don't move to the country.
Livestock guardian dogs are most needed to deter dogs (feral, pet and dumped) from chasing the sheep. Dogs are much more of an issue than true (wild) predators, at least on our farm. The sheep's dogs are out on pasture with the flock or sleeping in the barn with them - or waiting for "mom" to bring dinner - like they are in this photo. Ranger and Scout are half Great Pyrenees and half Anatolian Shepherd. Custer and Sherman (shown elsewhere) are Great Pyrenees.
- No additives, solutions or injections
The lamb meat is cut, wrapped and frozen - nothing is added to the meat unless you request it.
-No antibiotics or hormones
As our customer, you will receive antibiotic and hormone free meat. We rely on great grazing and low stress to ensure healthy animals.
- No pesticides or herbicides are used on our lambs or pasture-
We maintain organically - we do not want our flock eating grasses sprayed with herbicides, pesticides or fungicides.
- Grass-fed goodness
CLA is just one of the major benefits of grass-fed lamb. Omega 3 fatty acids are another. Grass-fed lamb has more CLA than other grass-fed meats....more details at bottom of page.
Carbon sequestration
Carbon sequestration is the process of capture and long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO
2). Carbon sequestration describes long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to either mitigate or defer global warming and avoid dangerous climate change. It has been proposed as a way to slow the atmospheric and marine accumulation of greenhouse gases, which are released by burning fossil fuels. Grasslands used for grazing capture carbon diozide and help lower greenhouse gasses.
- No irradiation
Our lamb is taken directly from our pastures to the processor. Meat is processed in a low volume facility that is family owned.
- Responsible predator control - we use livestock guardian dogs to deter coyotes and bobcats, we do not kill wildlife on our farm. Our farm has areas reserved as habitat for wildlife. The sheep are also very happy to share with all non-predatory wildlife.
- Direct producer/consumer relationship. There is no distributor, retailer or middleman for our lamb. Our lambs and sheep move from pasture directly to the processor and then to your freezer.
Chops with greens
Seared and then slow roasted with tumeric - lamb chops over cabbage and tomatoes.
Brown some lean grass-fed lamb and toss on a crust or flatbread with sauce and cheese.........finish topping with your favs - black olives, peppers, mushrooms, onions...
Rack of lamb (not Frenched)
Lamb burger with Swiss Cheese and grilled mushrooms.
Meat from grass-fed animals has two to four times more omega-3 fatty acids than meat from grain- fed animals. Omega-3s are called "good fats" because they play a vital role in every cell and system in your body. Grass-fed lamb has more CLA than other grass-fed meats.
Animal welfare is of utmost concern to us. Not only our livestock, but also our local wildlife. Preserving our small farm's eco-system is important to us. We are currently using a very small, family operated Animal Welfare Approved processor.
The CLA Advantage
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is a naturally occurring free fatty acid found mainly in meat and dairy products in small amounts. CLA was discovered by accident in 1978 by Michael W. Pariza at the University of Wisconsin while looking for mutagen formations in meat during cooking. The most abundant source of natural CLA is the meat and dairy products of grass-fed animals. Research conducted since 1999 shows that grazing animals have from 3-5 times more CLA than animals fattened on grain in a feedlot. Simply switching from grain-fed to grass-fed products can greatly increase your intake of CLA. (Dhiman, T. R., G. R. Anand, et al. (1999). “Conjugated linoleic acid content of milk from cows fed different diets.” J Dairy Sci 82(10): 2146-56.)
Omega 3’s
Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid for human growth and development. We must have it to be healthy. Grass-finished lamb is a great source for this essential nutrient. The source of Omega 3 is the green leaves of plants. When sheep eat their natural diet, lamb becomes a great source of Omega 3. Grain is not a rich source of Omega 3, so standard, grain-finishing practices cause the Omega 3 level to decrease dramatically.
Member:
By Janet McNally, Hinckley, Minnesota
My lamb had lower levels of omega-3 and a higher omega-6:3 ratio than both the farmed and wild salmon. But in contrast to pork, chicken, beef and domestic lamb, my lambs were much closer to the salmon.
Looking up the numbers
So why is lamb being called “land salmon?” One answer can be found at http://nutritiondata.self.com/, which provides nutritional labels for a wide variety of foods, including fatty acid analysis.
I looked up values for pork, chicken, beef, grassfed beef, domestic lamb, New Zealand lamb, farmed salmon and wild salmon. The table below shows what I found.
The table shows that lamb — all lamb — indeed has the healthiest omega-6:3 ratio of all the listed land species. Domestic lamb, which was likely raised on pasture but finished on grain, has a healthier ratio than beef, with significantly higher omega-3 content compared to both conventional and grassfed beef.
The New Zealand lamb, which I assume was finished on forages, has less omega-6 fatty acid compared to domestic lamb and a more desirable fatty acid ratio. But none of these meats were really comparable to salmon in total omega-3 content and omega-6:3 ratio.
In addition to comparing the various meats, I was curious if lambs finished on a diet of plants selected for their high omega-3 content might have a superior fatty acid profile compared to lambs finished on grass. Research studies have compared the nutrient profiles of lamb finished on a variety of pastures, such as high-altitude pastures with many herbs compared to lowland pastures with more grass.
Research has also shown that brassicas provide a very high level of omega-3 compared to other vegetables in the human diet. However, I was unable to find any nutrient research comparing omega-3 levels of lamb finished on brassicas with the meat of those finished on grass or legumes. I wanted to learn more.
So I finished my own lambs on a blend of kale, turnips, tillage radish, ryegrass, hairy vetch and red clover. Basically, I added the kale, turnips and clover to a cover crop mix of ryegrass, radish and vetch. I estimate that the ryegrass content of the finishing pasture was no more than 30% of the mix. Lambs spent their final 70 days on brassicas, with the last half of that time on this blend.
Lambs were slaughtered straight off the brassica blend without an adjustment period to “deflavor” the meat. Shoulder and sirloin steaks from 10 lambs were sent to Iowa State University for analysis.
The results are listed in the “US grassfed” column of the table. As shown, my lamb finished on the brassica/ryegrass mix had much more omega-3 than either the domestic or new Zealand lamb, with a significantly lower omega-6:3 ratio.
http://www.grazeonline.com/landsalmon
By Janet McNally, Hinckley, Minnesota
Dautobi Acres
P.O. Box 336
Leonard, TX 75452