Complete Lamb Ordering Guide

Everything you need to know about ordering a whole lamb from Bandit River Farm

🐑 Understanding Lamb Weights & Pricing

Weights & pricing are estimates and vary by animal, current market price, and processing preferences.

🐑

100 lbs

Live Weight
(On the farm)

→

🥩

50 lbs

Hanging Weight
(What you pay for)

→

📦

35 lbs

Packaged Weight
(What you take home)

⚠️ Most Important Thing to Understand

You pay based on hanging weight (50 lbs in this example), but you take home packaged weight (35 lbs in this example). This is standard practice throughout the meat industry and allows for fair pricing regardless of how you want your lamb cut and packaged.

Processing Stage	Example Weight	What's Removed	% of Live Weight
Live Lamb (on our farm)	100 lbs	Nothing yet	100%
Hanging Weight (at processor)	50 lbs	Hide, head, feet, organs, blood	~50%
Packaged Weight (you take home)	35 lbs	Bones*, fat trim, processing loss	~35%

💰 Complete Pricing Example

These are example numbers - actual weights vary by individual animal

🚚🐑🏪

Lamb Cost
(Paid to us)

50 lbs × $8/lb = $400

Based on hanging weight

🔪

Processing Fees
(Paid to processor)

$75 + (50 lbs × $1.25) = $137.50

Harvest + processing fees

💵

Your Total Cost

$400 + $137.50 = $537.50

Everything included

📦

Cost Per Pound

$537.50 ÷ 35 lbs = $15.36/lb

Premium pasture-raised lamb

📝 What Affects Your Final Take-Home Weight

Bone-in vs. Boneless cuts: Bone-in cuts (like lamb chops) increase your take-home weight
Fat trimming preferences: Less trimming = slightly more weight
Ground lamb percentage: More ground lamb = less processing loss
Specialty cuts: Some cuts require more trimming than others

Note: If you choose more bone-in cuts, your take-home weight will be closer to 40-45 lbs instead of 35 lbs in our example. That doesn't affect the final total price since you pay by hanging weight.

📋 How Our Ordering Process Works

Initial Order & Deposit

We provide you with an estimated hanging weight for your lamb (typically 50-75 lbs)
A 50% deposit is required to secure your order based on estimated weight
Your lamb is reserved and scheduled for processing

Delivery to Meat Locker

Your lamb is delivered to our trusted local community meat locker in Central Iowa
The actual hanging weight is determined at this time
We contact you with the final weight and arrange for processing instructions

Processing Instructions

You work directly with the meat locker to specify your preferences
Choose cut preferences: chops, roasts, ground lamb, specialty cuts.
Select packaging options and any special requests.
Processing typically takes 7-10 days.

Final Payment & Pickup

Once the final hanging weight is confirmed, you pay the remaining balance to us.
We will notify you when your order is ready for pickup.
You collect your processed lamb directly from the meat locker and pay processing fees directly to the meat locker at that time.
We recommend bringing a large cooler to transport the meat home.

✅ What's Included with Your Whole Lamb Order

Premium pasture-raised lamb (approximately 35-45 lbs processed weight)
Professional processing at our local community locker
Custom cutting and packaging according to your preferences
All premium cuts including chops, leg roasts, shoulder roasts, ground lamb

Ready to Order Your Whole Lamb?

Questions about our process? Want to place an order? We're here to help make this as simple as possible.

Place Your Order Now