Docking and castration.

foxylock

Lads whats the general consensus regarding tail docking and castration. Firstly, do you tail dock and why? Is it a cleanliness thing, would it influence your purchase of replacements? The old shepherd next door reckons hill sheep should never be docked as it guards against mastitis in harsh conditions. Dunno is there truth in that but all my hornies still have their tails!

How do you castrate? I use the burdizzo but wasn't happy with it this year am now considering using the rings. However would we get a better carcass if we let the ram entire? would they finish faster and cheaper too? So to squeeze or not to squeeze that is the question:D

The reason for all the questions is I will have hiltex ewe lambs for sale this year and if short tails are desired then short tails will be supplied. I am also considering letting a percentage of the rams entire to see how they compare price wise to wethers of similar weight.

sea12

Sure sont you know whatever you do the market wil want the opposite that year:rolleyes:

I always dock tails. (lowland) Much easier for keeping clean and maggot free,
Have castrated all rams last year with rings. Worked out very well. Didnt notice a huge amount of difference or delay in bringing to factory weight, Was much handier at end of season being able to keep all lambs together ratehr than splitting into rams and ewes.

However saw on journal last week one of the exporters said their export markets prefer long tails and full rams. So Who Knows !!

foxylock

sea12 wrote: »

Sure sont you know whatever you do the market wil want the opposite that year:rolleyes:

I always dock tails. (lowland) Much easier for keeping clean and maggot free,
Have castrated all rams last year with rings. Worked out very well. Didnt notice a huge amount of difference or delay in bringing to factory weight, Was much handier at end of season being able to keep all lambs together ratehr than splitting into rams and ewes.

However saw on journal last week one of the expoerters said their export markets prefer long tails and full rams. So Who Knows !!

Yeah I think anything that went on the boat to Libya this year was preferred to have tails, balls and be eating meal.

Green farmer

Teagasc have done research to prove that non castrated ram lambs finish faster then castrated. I didn't castrate any lambs last year. Factories don't pay any more of less for castrated or non castrated. It's only some butchers that moan about it and won't buy them after august. Research suggests there's no difference in flavour of meat.
As far as tail docking is concerned, I prefer docked ewes as cleaner and easier to see a ewe springing up .

Conmaicne Mara

Hill here, I see no advantage leaving long tails on ewes only disadvantages. If the dung get's any bit soft you're looking at a disaster for flystrike, plus long tails are nothing but a PITA at shearing. Always took the tails off my replacements and never noticed any mastitis.

I don't buy in females but if I did I wouldn't buy long tailed ewes/lambs.

Males I flip flop on to be honest. I've usually castrated them in the past as I might not sell them until October but I've left them entire too, can be a PITA managing them as a separate group.

Sea12 is right, when you castrate they want entire males, when you don't they say you should have.

foxylock

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Hill here, I see no advantage leaving long tails on ewes only disadvantages. If the dung get's any bit soft you're looking at a disaster for flystrike, plus long tails are nothing but a PITA at shearing. Always took the tails off my replacements and never noticed any mastitis.

I don't buy in females but if I did I wouldn't buy long tailed ewes/lambs.

Males I flip flop on to be honest. I've usually castrated them in the past as I might not sell them until October but I've left them entire too, can be a PITA managing them as a separate group.

Sea12 is right, when you castrate they want entire males, when you don't they say you should have.

Right will take out one ball so........:eek::eek:

Lano Lynn

lowland I ring the balls ,if I can't get the balls leave the tail on.easy to find for again If underpressure to get lambs out they go entire,usually singles, then cut them first worming .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny06ppuH3Oo

think like a politician leave enough tail to cover your ass:D

Conmaicne Mara

foxylock wrote: »

Right will take out one ball so........:eek::eek:

Lol, I made a balls of castration one year on three lambs. Left them as "rigs" and they were the feckin highest prices I got that year.

foxylock

Lano Lynn wrote: »

lowland I ring the balls ,if I can't get the balls leave the tail on.easy to find for again If underpressure to get lambs out they go entire,usually singles, then cut them first worming .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny06ppuH3Oo

think like a politician leave enough tail to cover your ass:D

Twould want to be some tail to cover my ass;)

foxylock

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Lol, I made a balls of castration one year on three lambs. Left them as "rigs" and they were the feckin highest prices I got that year.

Had the exact same problem this year, auctioneer announced them as being a bit strong and told me it didn't make much of a difference. They also made more than the wethers, hence my original question.

Green farmer

I've always docked trails, but was thinking of a new strategy , dock females, not males . Easy to separate in the yard in august as the males will have tails ??? Saves on bending down looking.

Conmaicne Mara

foxylock wrote: »

Had the exact same problem this year, auctioneer announced them as being a bit strong and told me it didn't make much of a difference. They also made more than the wethers, hence my original question.

Well, the next year I left everything intact and fell flat on my face price wise

Hence my agreement with Sea12.

Go figure.



We never dock males tails, I don't believe I've seen that in hill sheep, or maybe I haven't been paying enough attention.

foxylock

Green farmer wrote: »

I've always docked trails, but was thinking of a new strategy , dock females, not males . Easy to separate in the yard in august as the males will have tails ??? Saves on bending down looking.

I put a dot of purple on the back of the ewes for that reason, very simple to separate then.

Green farmer

foxylock wrote: »

I put a dot of purple on the back of the ewes for that reason, very simple to separate then.

I use sprays on lambs , to know what ones dosed / antibiotics / vitamins / vaccinated etc. If I as another reason to list they'll be like a rainbow

Forgot colour dot after weighing to know what ones ready for mart

Lano Lynn

Green farmer wrote: »

I use sprays on lambs , to know what ones dosed / antibiotics / vitamins / vaccinated etc. If I as another reason to list they'll be like a rainbow

Forgot colour dot after weighing to know what ones ready for mart

if for no other reason than avoiding ovine grafetti I use a dosing race.....but Im sure there is a PHD in colour marking systems....new thread anyone?

foxylock

I would hit them on the back of the head with the marking stick when dosing,etc. Keep changing colours for each new task. Colour just stays a week or two does the job.

Green farmer

Lano Lynn wrote: »

if for no other reason than avoiding ovine grafetti I use a dosing race.....but Im sure there is a PHD in colour marking systems....new thread anyone?

We all have our own way of doing things. I find my way stops me making any mistakes in relation to withdrawals etc.

paddysdream

Every lamb tail ringed after birth here.Never leave them too short as with any amount of texel in the ewe lambs kept for replacement find that really short tails are a recepie for a higher rate of both mastitis and prolapse.

According to research(heard it a long time ago) ewes with really short tails have weaker muscles around the back end and tends to lead them to be more inclined to put out the bed both before and after lambing.

To be honest find that once the bulk of the tail is gone ,then no advantage to docking too severe.

As regards castration,havent ringed or squeezed a lamb here in years.Seperate ewe and ram lambs after weaning and find that this cures any problems with both mounting/fighting and ram taint/smell.

Reduced performance from castration at birth is a well proven fact and the setback from the burdizzo can be severe enough.

AnFeirmeoir

From what i see at the marts, a wether will sell for a few euro more than a ram at the same weight.
I don't know why and i know they say it should make no difference.
So i castrate them.

Nekarsulm

Planning to ring the tails on all ewe twin lambs, then it will be easy to choose which (if any) to keep on for ewes. Well that's the plan, anyway. Old lad near here wouldn't hear of ringing them. " a tail is great shelter for a lamb" was his mantra.

MayoAreMagic

We have mountain ewes and we dock them. Not too short, just enough to give them a bit of cover on their back end. Never had a single case of mastitis doing it.

I actually know of someone who leaves 1 ball entact on purpose. He reckons they are that bit fatter but they still have the stronger bone of the entact male lamb. He never said which one though

John_Rambo

This is terrible cruel. Could you not brush their tails daily and put little condoms on them if they want to make love?

John_Rambo

That was a joke.