Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-09-30

! hand until the growing lamp can
| take it all.
Ewes that are heavily wooded
around the udder should be tagged
| that is the weel trimmed off so that
| the lamb will not suck the wool and
| thus slowly starve to death before
| t. owner finds out whct the trou-
| BILE is. This causes a collection of
wool in the stomach and eventually
death occurs.
Docking is practiced very little in
Georgia simply because the flock
| owner does not know how to do the
job or because there is mistaken
| idea of the risk in this operation.
If some few precautions of santa
ton are observed and care is used
in handling the lamb there is prac-
| tically no loss. OF course the all
| important thing is to do the job at
the right time-and that time is
whe' the lamb is about 10 days old.
Much complaint of loss of lambs in
docking can be attributed to post
poning the docking until the lamb
!" "'e or two months old. When the
lamb is two months old, the tail is
much larger, arteries are decidedly
larger and naturally the bleeding is
more profuse. Loss will occur un-
less the tail is first tightly bound
procedure is explained below.
There are many reasons for dock
ing lambs. Among the. most I'M
portant are the following:
unlocked lambs become foul be-
hind, especially when turned on
green grass for the first time. This
affords a place for the maggots to
accumulate. The loss in flesh and
discomfort to the sheep is untold.
In ewes, the tails of unlocked
sheep often interfere with copula-
ton. This makes the crop Of lambs
very un-uniform.
The locked lamb is much heater
in appearance and shows ia much
fuller twist and larger leg of NUT.
ton. This is distinct advantage in
selling purebreds.
Choose a clear cool day. Get the
lambs to themselves where they can
be caught with the least excitement.
Running the lamb just before the
ope- alton will cause the blood to
flow much more freely.
Prepare a small amount of disin-
ASSbcAiiI IL OA4A q III COSOLC UP vi 1yoOA
in a wash basin. Keep the knife i'm
mersed in this when not in use.
Hold the lamb as indicated in the
illustration above. The feet being
held with one hand while the other
hand is used to pull back the skin
on the rump close down at the root
of tail. This leaves the skin longer
than the stump of the tail so it will
fold down over the wound causing
it to heal more rapidly and neatly.
With lambs that have been neg
lected in the matter of docking un.
til they are a month old, it is the
safest plan to tie a string tightly
around the tail close up to the body
before cutting off the tail. It is best
20 tie a surgeons knot, i. e., take
.wo turns instead of one in tying an
ordinary knot. When drawn tight
the above knot will hold while the
second knot is being tied. This string
should always be removed six to
eight hours later. If this is not
done the tail will decay and slough
off, causing a very disagreeable
sore.
Grasp the tail firmly with one
hand and cut down with a quick
drawing motion, using a good sharp
knife. The tail should be cut from
one inch to an inch and a quarter
from the body.
Disinfect the stump of the tail
with some Of the solu ion that has
been prepared.
Keep the lamb under observation
for some little time. Should any of
the lambs be bleeding too freely it
may be advisable to tie string
around the stump. Do not excite
the lambs.
There are several advantages in
castrating the ram lambs of a grade
flock and the ram lambs of a pure
bred flock which are OF suitable for
service.
The market discriminates against
unrestricted ram lambs and this
discrimination increases with the
age of the lamb. If packer buyers
pay less for such lambs there must
be some sound business reasons
back of it.
Ram lambs develop in the crest
instead of in the loin and the back,
the regions of the valuable cuts.
A wether lamb fattens more read
lily than ram lamb, since the. ram
lamb is restless a considerable part
Of the time. And in addition the
wether lamb is much easier cared
for.
Quite frequently If the young
rams are carried through the breed
ing season, many Of the ewes will
be bred by them.
A good shepherd will castrate his
grade lambs.
Choose a bright cool day for the
operation.
Have a pan of disinfectant ready.