Lamb is prized as a delicacy in many countries. It is exceedingly tender with a mild, characteristic flavour and also contains many vitamins, minerals and is high in protein. Non-intensive farming is here the secret of tasty lamb meat. Before the animals are slaughtered at the age of six to seven months, they spend most of the time with their mothers outside. When the herd is tended by dogs or shepherds they can move along with the flock or else they spend their days within set fenced pastures, so-called paddock keeping.
In ecological farming, all the animals can enjoy the freedom to roam outside. It is the same with our farmers: some roam with their herds, in the Rhön area for example, and others keep their sheep in pastures around the farm. This is perfectly suitable here in the Allgäu area, with its luscious meadows rich in herbs. Sheep are known for good reasons to be the ideal groundkeepers: they protect areas from scrubs and help to preserve dry grassland, alpine meadows, moorland and heaths.
Contact with people is vital: only so can shepherds make sure their animals are thriving. After all, prevention is better than a cure and for this reason shepherds need a great deal of professional knowledge. The lambs are born within the herds. Soon after, they eat the green grass from the meadows and, depending on the season, hay and pellets harvested from natural pastures around the shepherd's farms. Even in the sheds the animals have plenty of space and can move around freely. The ground is covered with soft straw and there are hay bales and other extra things to keep them occupied.
