How many are currently raising hair breeds of sheep?

[Beekissed]

That's a real shame...I know why they skin them so closely, so they can really see the muscling and form of the sheep. But...docking the tails so the rump appears more round? It may appear more round but no amount of docking can make the rump more round... It's a shame that the judges and the rules require this unnecessary and potentially damaging mutilation of the sheep. Might as well require it of the cattle as well...wouldn't that make their rumps look more round and meaty?

 

[TexasShepherdess]

LOL..potentially! I would pay though to see anyone try to dock my cows' tails!

That is show animals..you know what interesting..alot of those animals shown "heavily" usually cant cut the mustard when you go to actually USE them (example-a heifer getting to fat and thus having calving issues)

 

[SheepGirl]

I don't know...some of those buggers can be quite productive. My friend raises Shrops and Suffolks as show sheep and she has one ewe (Shrop) that produces triplets every year. And her lambs always are in the top five in either the market or breeding classes. That said, they grow pretty well, too, because judges look for well-grown animals for their age.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree...it seems an oxymoron, doesn't it? Many of the ewes bought at shows with extreme docking then have birthing, vaginal or rectal prolapse, etc. problems. They may be a fine example of the breed but, due to docking and early~ and large grain feeding~ to increase size before showing, they tend to not be hardy and productive.

I've seen dairy cattle with docked tails and it is the saddest thing ever....I can't imagine the misery in the summer when they need the tails for fly avoidance.

 

[theawesomefowl]

My mom thinks my sheeps' tails are ugly, but I think they're funny! Almost like squirrel tails.

 

[SheepGirl]

I've seen dairy cattle with docked tails and it is the saddest thing ever....I can't imagine the misery in the summer when they need the tails for fly avoidance.

But you must remember that the dairy producers that dock their cattle tend to have them in confinement...usually in the form of free stall barns (my friend with the 400 cow dairy does this). And those barns are pretty high tech, too. They have fans going and they are automatically cleaned out once a day. They dock them usually right above the switch to help keep the udder clean. (With 400 cows to milk, they don't have a lot of time to clean the udders more than they do already before milking).

 

[Beekissed]

The ones I have seen were all standing out in knee deep mud and manure, hunkered in whatever shade the building(without any overhang or shelter)could provide in the blazing heat. Big ol Holstein cows with stumps for tails and knee deep in muck....I wonder where THAT milk goes.

Saw that at two different dairy operations in this state...and that's just in my little area. How many more places are managed in this way instead of the temp controlled, clean and shiny barns? I don't normally eat any commercially produced dairy products, so it means little to me...but think of all the people who think their milk comes from the nice, shiny place instead of the misery and muck.

 

[SheepGirl]

I didn't know there were any dry lot dairies here on the East Coast (don't know if WV is considered on the East Coast, but you're right next to MD...). Just thought that was out in the Midwest and West. Interesting. Personally I don't think dry lotting animals here on this side of the country is that great of an idea because of the moisture and humidity. It's fine if they are smaller animals (aka not cattle or horses, but sheep, goats, etc) because they poop less and if the dry lot is strategically located (i.e. on a downward slope with the main "living areas" (shelter, feed, etc) on the top of the hill). But that's just me.

ETA: Oops...this thread is getting off-topic. Bee, if you want to, make a new thread about your opinions of show animals and then we can move this discussion (if you want to continue it) to a more appropriate place.

 

[Beekissed]

Nah...it's fine. That's how normal discussions on the front porch usually go anyway~at least at MY house. I like to learn what I can, where I can, so I don't even think hijacking is a valid term...it's rather a bonus to find this type of discussion in the middle of a hair sheep thread.

 

[TexasShepherdess]

Let me rephrase..IME its not the individual ANIMAL,..its more the showing methods that cause alot more potential issues when you put that animal back into your herd...