A fat tail or rump Egyptian Rahmani. Tails are natural Tails are a natural part of sheep. Lambs are born with tails. The length of a lamb's tail is usually half-way between the length of its mother's tail and its father's tail.
In fact, tail length is one of the most heritable traits in sheep. Up to 84 percent of the variation in sheep tail length is due to genetics. The purpose of the sheep's tail is to protect the sheep's anus, vulva, and udder from weather extremes.
Sheep lift their tails when they defecate and use their tails, to some extent, to scatter their feces. No tails! Under modern sheep production systems, tails are usually docked shortened to prevent fecal matter from accumulating on the back side of the sheep, which can result in fly strike wool maggots.
Left untreated, fly strike can be fatal, as the maggots eat away at the sheep's flesh. Tail docking also makes it easier to shear the sheep and process them for meat. The tail does not interfere with breeding or lambing.
There are different methods that can be used to dock the tails of lambs. The most common method is to put a rubber band ring around the tail. When this method is used, it is recommended that lambs be docked at a young age 1 to 7 days to minimize the stress and pain experienced by the lamb. Flock mentality movements protect individuals from predators. They cry out when in pain, and — like humans — have an increase in cortisol the stress hormone during difficult situations.
Sheep are doting mothers: They form strong bonds with their lambs and can recognize the sound of their individual call when they wander away.
This impedes movement, overburdens the animal and can cause it to overheat. Ewes female sheep are very caring mothers and have deep bonds with their lambs.
Each mother can recognise her lambs by their bleats alone. To make enough money to provide for a family to make a farm sustainable requires that a shepherd kill a lot of lambs. Many different breeds of sheep exist throughout the world, each with varying lengths of tails. Some breeds are born with stumpier tails that are not targeted for docking, while lambs of other breeds are born with long tails that can grow several feet in length if left intact.
Some breeds of sheep found in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and other regions even store fat in their tails, which can grow so large that they drag on the ground. The tails of lambs are cut off to prevent blowfly strike, a type of parasitic infection.
These infections can lead to fertility problems, decreased wool production, and sometimes death. Tail-docking in lambs usually occurs at a young age, normally within weeks of being born. There is still debate about which docking method causes the least pain, yet each one of these methods has been shown to result in pain posturing, crying or screaming, and increased stress. The rubber ring docking method involves placing a tight latex band around the tail to cut off blood flow to the tail.
The band applies constant pressure, eventually resulting in an inflammatory lesion and the sloughing off of the tail, meaning the tail rots without sufficient blood supply and eventually detaches from the body on its own. This process generally takes nearly a month to complete, during which lambs exhibit various pain and stress responses. This method involves applying a latex or rubber band to the tail as described above, with the additional step of applying a clamp forcefully to the tail near the ring to destroy the underlying nerves in the tail.
Some farmers use a surgical knife to sever the tail, followed by cauterization with a hot blade. Cauterization is like receiving a burning hot brand to the skin, except when applied to an open wound, the searing heat seals off blood vessels. While excruciatingly painful, cauterization is thought to aid with the healing process.
Welfare concerns arise anytime an animal is made to suffer significant or unnecessary harm at the hands of humans.
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