Update on Dolly Lamba with wet butt

[Beekissed]

I'd say the only reason a sheep would get flystrike is from mismanaged flocks. Anyone allowing their sheep to have continued loose bowels without trying to correct their rumen with roughage offered when the grass is rich is more likely the reason for this than are long sheep's tails. For thousands of years before this practice became a century old practice, sheep's tails were left long. Even now, in older parts of the world, the sheep tails are still left long.

I'd say that practice came into being when farmers started getting greedy and stopped having a closer relationship with their animals. Moved from using shepherds and started using fences to contain and manage their sheep numbers. Whatever the reason, farmers moved from crupping to just chopping off the tail. Expedient, sure. Necessary? I'd say if you were running a thousand head of sheep and rarely saw or noticed if your sheep were having loose stool or matted behinds. Three sheep in a backyard? Not necessary.

The overdocking we are seeing now is not for this reason but merely a trend at shows as no one really intends that these sheep will be stock replacement ewes.

One of the reasons I opted for hair sheep...their tails can be left long and unmutilated and still perform the service they were meant to perform. Tails were meant for brushing off flies and the hair sheep do it quite well with their naturally long tails.

The tail root is connected to the sacral plexus, a branch of nerves that control the functions in that area....like birthing, eliminating waste, flexion of the hindquarters/limbs, etc. Docking into that area is a potential for all sorts of maladies like the one mentioned in this thread. Not necessary at all.

 

[Natisha]

Docking sheep tails has been done by shephers that relied on their flocks for their very livelyhood for centuries and for a good reason... called fly strike for one. Usually occurs in the spring when the grass is green and lush and the sheep gets loose, runny poop. It then starts to occumulate on the anal regeon, under the tail and then spreads over the entire undocked tail and over the hind quarter. Spring brings out the fly populations that then lay their eggs in the moist fecal matter on the sheep's behind. Soon the eggs hatch and the fly maggots are HUNGRY and start to eat the sheep' flesh... talk about being eaten alive and the severe pain that the sheep has to endure. If you have ever seen this cruel canibalistic episode in person, you will always dock the tails. I have seen many in person when someone brings in a sheep with fly strike to the Vet. school, with very RAW half eaten long tails and/or hind quarters. I have docked many hundreds of sheep with no problems. Where one runs into difficulties is when someone botches up the proceedure in some instances, but more of a problem when someone that is uninformed of the true facts of life doesn't dock a sheep's tail in the first place because they think that it may be cruelor unnatural.

That sounds horrible.
Dolly is free roaming & hangs out in the barn. During fly season she has fans, her stalls are very clean & she gets vet approved fly spray when needed. She is groomed every day. I can do anything with her. She is not dirty
If she had a tail even long enough to cover her 'girl parts' her life would be greatly improved. As it is now she has to endure any insect that bothers her there.

Here's the plan. I'll get & send in a urine sample to rule out a urinary infection. If that comes back clean I'll keep her shaved close where it gets wet & apply a skin protectant to the area. She doesn't pee on herself, the wool wicks it up causing the wetness. I couldn't do this for a bunch of sheep but I can easily do it for one.

 

[carolinagirl]

I'd say the only reason a sheep would get flystrike is from mismanaged flocks. Anyone allowing their sheep to have continued loose bowels without trying to correct their rumen with roughage offered when the grass is rich is more likely the reason for this than are long sheep's tails. For thousands of years before this practice became a century old practice, sheep's tails were left long. Even now, in older parts of the world, the sheep tails are still left long.

I'd say that practice came into being when farmers started getting greedy and stopped having a closer relationship with their animals. Moved from using shepherds and started using fences to contain and manage their sheep numbers. Whatever the reason, farmers moved from crupping to just chopping off the tail. Expedient, sure. Necessary? I'd say if you were running a thousand head of sheep and rarely saw or noticed if your sheep were having loose stool or matted behinds. Three sheep in a backyard? Not necessary.

The overdocking we are seeing now is not for this reason but merely a trend at shows as no one really intends that these sheep will be stock replacement ewes.

One of the reasons I opted for hair sheep...their tails can be left long and unmutilated and still perform the service they were meant to perform. Tails were meant for brushing off flies and the hair sheep do it quite well with their naturally long tails.

The tail root is connected to the sacral plexus, a branch of nerves that control the functions in that area....like birthing, eliminating waste, flexion of the hindquarters/limbs, etc. Docking into that area is a potential for all sorts of maladies like the one mentioned in this thread. Not necessary at all.

excellent post. Docking is one reason I chose hair sheep too. I just don't like the way wool sheep look with all their lady parts so exposed. Even if a couple inches was left it would be so much better. I really like the long natural tails on the hair sheep.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Bee, you have some good points but some of your posts aren't entirely accurate. All sheep *used to* shed out their wool. As humans evolved and learned it was too much work to follow along and gather bits of wool from shrubs, rocks, etc, they started breeding sheep to keep their wool until it was shorn off. So, humans did create a need to dock, but it wasnt' just because they were greedy or lazy.

People who manage multiple sheep find docking necessary because otherwise fooling with the sheep is time consuming and costly. If a sheep is docked properly (so the tail is longer than what is done for show sheep) then there aren't issues with fly strike or any of the negative aspects of docking. And trying to control sheep poop on tails in arid regions would be MUCH easier than controling it in other regions of the world. When you've got a small flock you can add in roughage to prevent scours, but in large flocks it may not be possible. Since sheep take differently (digestively) to the food offered, it's not always possible or practical to separate individuals who may have digestive upsets.

I dock my sheep, because it's standard practice and since I don't plan on keeping every sheep born in my flock, I do it so they can be sold. Trying to sell sheep with tails is like trying to sell goats with horns. Some people want them, but the majority don't.

I have seen hundreds of sheep and not one who had a properly docked tail had any issues with *not* having their tail. I haven't been unlucky enough to see a sheep with fly strike, but I don't ever want to. I think docking a tail at a young age one time is much better on the sheep than a battle for the rest of it's life.

 

[neener92]

I have a small flock of wool sheep they are my pets mostly, but I do breed them and sell lambs so I can keep them around. When my first ewe had her first lamb I was dreading docking the lambs tail, but after about a half hour the lamb had no idea what had happened and was out playing with the other sheep and getting into trouble as usually. I don't like doing it but I personally believe its better on them in the long run.

There is a sheep farmer not to far from me and he had a few sheep that had tails, when shearing their tails get all cut up, because of this he banded their tails, about and hour of pain saved them several cuts to there tails when getting sheared.

 

[Natisha]

I think there is docking & then there is extreme docking. Every vet who has seen my lamb has been shocked at her extreme docking. For a time rectal prolapse was a concern but we do daily 'kegel exercises' to that area & so far so good. I guess I'll have to move down a bit.

 

[Queen Mum]

That sounds horrible. Dolly is free roaming & hangs out in the barn. During fly season she has fans, her stalls are very clean & she gets vet approved fly spray when needed. She is groomed every day. I can do anything with her. She is not dirty
If she had a tail even long enough to cover her 'girl parts' her life would be greatly improved. As it is now she has to endure any insect that bothers her there.

Here's the plan. I'll get & send in a urine sample to rule out a urinary infection. If that comes back clean I'll keep her shaved close where it gets wet & apply a skin protectant to the area. She doesn't pee on herself, the wool wicks it up causing the wetness. I couldn't do this for a bunch of sheep but I can easily do it for one.

Good plan Natisha. You sound like a practical person. If that solves the problem then you can manage Dolly easily that way. You've obviously spent quite a bit of time working with Dolly to train her and she is valuable to you. So the extra time spent isn't going to be a big deal. A few minutes more care is all it should take on a regular basis.

And the kegel's should eventually make a difference.

 

[Natisha]

Thanks Queen, I'm not always practical when it comes to my animals but I try to be realistic. This is not Dolly's fault, she's not a breeding cull. I took a chance & lost, so it is what it is.
Sheep are incredibly easy to train unless they are in a group. Dolly can get me laughing no matter what else is going on. What price could I put on that?

 

[Queen Mum]

Thanks Queen, I'm not always practical when it comes to my animals but I try to be realistic. This is not Dolly's fault, she's not a breeding cull. I took a chance & lost, so it is what it is.
Sheep are incredibly easy to train unless they are in a group. Dolly can get me laughing no matter what else is going on. What price could I put on that?

I'm not sure that you lost. You gained an understanding of the pros and cons of tail docking; the issues associated with fanatic showmanship behaviors; you got an animal that is intelligent and teaches you patience; you are learning about husbandry; gaining an understanding of urinary tract functions and disfunctions in sheep; learning about fly and pest control... heck the list goes on. And you have learned about training your friend and companion, Dolly Lambda.

When I was a kid, we were poor and my dad bought culls so we could have farm animals. It brought us nothing but luck. But I have found there are reasons to preserve a particular animal even if some farmers would cull them as not having the "usual" farm value. There is more to an animal that a pretty face, a big meaty body and lovely wool. There is a LOT of value to an animal that makes you laugh.

I have farm animals and my foundation doe would have been culled on the average farm. She has turned out to be my most valuable farm asset. I got her for next to nothing. She has a "bad" udder but gives me twice the amount of milk of most goats. She is oversized and as it turns out again the pack goat community wants that is a kid. But the pack goat community wants large wethers so I welcome her male babies. She has beautiful kids. And her doe kids have beautiful udders. She is a WONDERFUL herd queen and has defended her herd nearly to death saving them from disaster twice. She is a very smart goat and is very gentle and sweet. She passes those traits on to her kids as well making them valuable for sale.

And even if she gave me no more milk and no more lovely kids. I would still keep her. She has earned her place on my farm.

 

[zzGypsy]

there are other reasons for docking besides unmanaged scours...

we have wool sheep and I used to leave all the tails undocked. however, late in the spring before shearing the wool weight on a long-tailed sheep with a full fleece can be heavy enough that the ewes can't lift the tail clear when they pee. in addition, some very-long-tailed ewes in our line have a recurved tail and the end of it is *always* in the way even without wool weight. the end result is a tail that's urine saturated and scalded. and I would expect fly strike to be an issue if it weren't addressed.

I like the long tails, but I now dock the ewes to half length tails. this allows them to lift their tails out of the way, even with full wool, but still gives full coverage for the girl parts. this sort of docking is common in europe, but not approved of by show judges in the US.

we leave the tails long on the rams and weathers and have had no problems.

I have had a case of flystrike - we had a dog attack and one ewe had a wound that went undetected - it developed an infection and we had a full fledged case of fly strike before we identified that the ewe was wounded (she's pretty stoic) - it's truly nasty. the good news is it's easy to treat.