Need Help with Tail Cropping and castration please.

[SarahSand1]

Hi all,
My name is Sarah,
I live in the South of Tasmania.

This week our three Poll Dorset Ewes much to our surprise presented us this 5 baby lams 3 rams and two ewes, all is well and the mums are feeding babies well. (There were six but the tassie devil got one)
When dealing with Tassie Devils rotten things are protected, personally I won't say what I think of them. It would not be nice.
I know the tails have to be cropped and went out today and bought the ring pliers and a packet of rings. I also wish the rams to be wethers as we do not want indreeding. Our current ram is away on another property of our neighbour.

My Question is, as what age should the rubbers be attached to the tails and also at what age should the testicles have the rubbers attached.
One final question please at what age should be babies be drenched. Our three mother ewes are due to be shorn and drenched when babies are weened. Do we drench the lambs at the same time. We are fortunate on this property and the neighbouring properties that worm has not been a heavy issue.

Thank you for your help in advance.

Sarah.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Hi Sarah,
Welcome to BYH. I'd love to help but know nothing about sheep or tail docking. I think you might have more luck if you request your post be moved to the sheep section...just hit the REPORT button and as the moderators to do that for ya and they will

 

[Goatherd]

Hello Sarah and welcome!

I can't help you with your questions, but I would suggest you post your question on the "Sheep" section of the forum so that you can get the appropriate answers.
This is the "Goat" section ,and while some may know, you would be better served on the other forum.

Good luck!

 

[Southern by choice]

Hello Sarah from Tasmania! My hubby was in Hobart for a month or so on business, loved it there!
Sheep section would be better! and....

 

[Alice Acres]

Hi Sarah

We put the bands on the tails in the 1st 24 hours after birth. If they are born and look strong and healthy - we band right after birth. If they look a little stressed we wait a bit to let them recover and nurse a few times. We have waited up to a week to band. I bet you can wait longer, but it hurts them more (the nervous system is less mature right after birth, and gradually develops after birth.)

As far as castration, when you have 2 testes dropped into the scrotum, you can band. This you can wait a lot longer for. Many people do wait - as they want the ram lambs to mature a bit and you may have some you want to leave intact as rams to sell. Or if you have part of your flock who are unrelated, you could use 1 yourself for use on non-related ewes.

Good luck!

 

[SheepGirl]

We band up to 3 days old and we castrate no later than 30 days of age.

You can drench the lambs at the same time as your ewes if they need it as well.

 

[BrownSheep]

We've banded as late as two weeks but the earlier you do it the better. We dock our tails to righ about where the flesh is on the underside. It will leave you with about 2 inches of tail. Personally I rather error on the side of a little too long vs a little too short. I castrate mine from 3-5 weeks depending on when the testes drop. You might want to get some help if you've never done it before. It is rather easy to let a testical escape the band if you've never done it. We do it with two people anyway. One pushing the testicals in to the sack and the other one banding.

Glad to hear you have dorsets! We raise horn Dorset crosses. Wonderful breed.

 

[Southdown]

I band the tails at 24 hours of age, unless they are weak looking and need to nurse longer. I like to give them a chance to eat, get on their feet, and bond with momma for the first 24 hours. I had to band one later, maybe she was close to a week old, and it really caused pain for the lamb. It seems to cause less pain if you can do it sooner. I also leave about 2 inches of tail length. The castration has been a battle for me. I have learned from my mistakes. I will never use the banding method for castration any more. I much prefer the burdizzo clamp. However, I have learned that you need to lock the instrument, not just press firmly. We used the burdizzo at an older age because I can never seem to get the testicles to stay down low enough to get above them. It's really hard when they are the size of a pea. I also noticed a lot less pain response with the burdizzo and no fly problems. It's also good if momma ewe had her CDT booster three weeks prior to lambing because she can give some passive immunity to the lamb.

 

[secuono]

I waited to band tails until all were active and happy. So 4 and 6 weeks of age. Rams were band castrated as they sold, I can't remember their ages, but 3mo roughly. Had one castrated around 4mo, he was ok, then a little off that freaked me out, but then he sprung back and is doing wonderful. So I'd say stick to under 3mo for sure for castration. I waited mainly because I didn't want to stress anyone or risk any issues until I was sure they were tough enough.

 

[SarahSand1]

Hi Sarah,
Welcome to BYH. I'd love to help but know nothing about sheep or tail docking. I think you might have more luck if you request your post be moved to the sheep section...just hit the REPORT button and as the moderators to do that for ya and they will

Thanks for the welcome Mr. Herd Master, I have placed my post in the right category, Birthing Weaning and Raising Young Sheep judging by the relies and thank you all that have replied.

Sarah