MM Livestock Co

Let me begin by saying banding and castrating lambs is not inhumane. If you have ever seen a case of fly strike you would know just how right I am. Wool sheep in this part of the country, especially range sheep can and do get very dirty. In the rainy season their tails would foul with brush, mud, debris, and feces, giving flies the perfect place to lay eggs. When those eggs hatch the larvae begin by eating the matter that has collected on the tail and moving on to the flesh of the animal. This is painful and potentially deadly. when docked properly lambs experience very little pain. They are back with mom within minutes and usually start nursing right away. We band our lambs between 3 and 7 days of age. Older lambs probably would experience more pain as would a lamb docked too short. We band at the caudal fold which is where the skin of the tail forms a V. This leaves the tail long enough to cover the"nether regions" but not so long as to collect debris. Hair sheep and crosses with naturally short tails don't require docking and that is one of the reasons we run Dorper crosses. Fewer lambs require docking and in another few generations we may not need to dock at all. Castrating is necessary to prevent lambs breeding too early, and young rams will fight and injure each other. Whethers do grow better in my opinion because their mind isn't focused on reproduction. In over 30 years I have never seen a lamb go into shock or die after being banded. I have seen undocked lambs go septic and die from fly strike and that is not a pretty sight. I would much rather band my lambs and have them grow up healthy and happy than not dock tails and have to treat infections with chemicals and antibiotics. Just because a lamb has been docked doesn't make the farmer inhumane, in fact its Just the opposite. Meg