Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



247 



Mutton Sheep 



Mutton sheep constitute a general class including all sheep and 

 lambs which are sold for immediate slaughter. Most of them are sold 

 to local packers, but some of the better grades are sold to order buyers 

 who ship them for slaughter to eastern cities. The classes of mutton 

 sheep are lambs, yearlings, wethers, ewes, and bucks and stags. 



Lambs. — ^The lamb class, including wether, ewe, and buck lambs, 

 is the most numerous and most important class of mutton or killing 

 sheep. A recent survey of Chicago receipts by the U. S. Bureau of 

 Agricultural Economics ^ shows that 82 per cent of all receipts consist 

 of lambs, while 10 per cent are ewes, 2 per cent are yearlings, and 6 



Fig. 83. — Prime western lambs. 



per cent are wethers, bucks, and stags. Lambs are most profitable to 

 the producer because their cost of production is less and because their 

 market price is higher than that of any other class. Consumers prefer 

 lambs to older animals because of the better flavor and greater tender- 

 ness of the meat. 



At 12 to 14 months of age, lambs become yearlings, ewes, or bucks. 

 Western lambs mature more slowly than natives because of their 

 Merino breeding and because they are not ordinarily as well fed. 

 The slower maturity of the western lamb is something of an advantage, 

 enabling it longer to enjoy the advantage in price which lambs have 

 over older animals. Western lambs may be purchased in the late fall 



^As reported in the Breeder's Gazette, Nov. 9, 1922, p. 611. 



