However many lambs are slaughtered before reaching the age of sexual maturity. This makes a nonsense of farmers' stated reason for castration. This call has been ignored by sheep farmers who continue to castrate the vast majority of male lambs. A survey published in 1996 in the British Veterinary Journal found that the majority of flockmasters using the bloodless castrator use too large a model which can result in excessive crushing pressures over an unnecessarily large area of the scrotum. Tail-docking involves removing half the tail with pliers or a hot iron.
Farmers say they tail-dock to prevent pigs biting each other's tails.
The majority of pigs reared for meat are kept in barren, overcrowded indoor units where there is nothing for these lively young creatures to do. Prevented from performing their normal rooting and foraging, they turn in frustration to biting the tails of their pen-mates. The real answer to tail-biting is to improve the conditions in which young pigs are kept. Tail-biting is a sure sign that something is wrong with the rearing system. There is clear scientific evidence that tail-biting is much reduced when pigs are given plenty of space and enough straw to allow them to root and chew.