By Roelof Bezuidenhout
Tail docking in sheep is still often influenced by breed standards and tradition. Dorper breeders, for instance, tend to dock show animals particularly short for aesthetic reasons. Some also believe that a missing tail improves fat distribution in the hindquarters, or that a very short tail aids mating and improves lambing rates. In contrast, commercial Dorper farmers usually dock tails longer and often send slaughter lambs to market with their tails intact.
Common sense should guide this practice, whether in woolled or mutton breeds.
There is sufficient evidence to suggest that docking a sheep’s tail at the third or fourth palpable joint is preferable to cutting it shorter.
Cape Wools conducted trials to evaluate the necessity of tail docking in Merinos and found minimal difference in breech strike (flystrike around the tail and hindquarters) between lambs that were docked and those left with full tails. These trials were prompted by growing concerns around animal welfare and the increasing need for wool producers to justify husbandry practices that may cause temporary discomfort. The study aimed to answer a few key questions: Does tail docking reduce breech strike? Does it affect weight gain or reproductive performance? And does it make shearing easier?
In the trial, lambs in the control group retained their full tails, and those in the treatment group were docked at the third palpable joint using a hot iron at about three weeks of age.
The results showed no significant treatment effect. Although the impact of tail docking on reproduction remains uncertain, weaning weight was unaffected. Tail docking also had no influence on the shearing process – neither in terms of the time required per sheep nor in relation to the welfare of the sheep during shearing.
Australian best practice
In an article published in the quarterly magazine Beyond the Bale, Australian Wool Innovation recommends docking tails at the third or fourth palpable joint as best practice. Docking tails too short can lead to several adverse outcomes, including an increased risk of rectal prolapse, perineal skin cancer, bacterial arthritis and breech strike. Short tails impair the ewe’s ability to lift her tail to defecate or urinate and to flick away flies, leading to higher levels of dag (faecal build-up) and, in ewes, increased urine staining of the wool.
The article quotes a veterinarian as saying that most cases of arthritis in Australian sheep are caused by bacterial infection. The bacteria typically enter the sheep’s bloodstream through an open wound. Although infection can result from any skin tear, short tail docking is particularly problematic. It involves more muscle and tissue, resulting in a larger wound that takes longer to heal, thereby increasing the risk of infection.
The article notes that it may seem counterintuitive for shorter tails to increase the risk of flystrike, but the evidence has long supported the benefits of leaving tails longer. Research from the 1930s and 1940s – conducted before the advent of chemical flystrike preventatives – found that sheep with short tails were more than twice as likely to suffer flystrike compared to those with long tails. The flystrike rate was 13 cases per 100 sheep with long tails, 27 per 100 in those with medium-length tails, and 38 per 100 in short-tailed sheep.
The best tail docking point is in the vertebral space just after the third or fourth palpable joint, the article states. In ewe lambs, the remaining tail should be long enough to cover the vulva, and the same length should be maintained in rams and wethers.
A useful visual guide is the bare area on the underside of the tail – this area should never be cut through. Preserving it ensures the animal can lift its tail to defecate and urinate properly.
Docking tails too short exposes the breech to sunlight, increasing the risk of perineal skin cancers.
Research conducted in the 1980s found squamous cell carcinomas present in flocks on 82% of farms surveyed. Cancer prevalence ranged from 0,12% to 4% of ewes and increased with age, with more than 3% of ewes older than five years affected. Most cases involved vulval lesions and often resulted in the animal being euthanised.
Rectal prolapse is also more common in sheep with short-docked tails, primarily due to muscle damage. The risk is even greater in sheep suffering from conditions like pneumonia, where frequent coughing can trigger a prolapse if the tail has been docked too short. Prolapse is typically fatal. According to the article, there is no sound justification for leaving sheep with excessively short tails.
Some tips
• Dock as early as possible, but not within the first week after birth.
• Do not dock weak or sick lambs.
• Keep lambs close to the handling area before and after docking so they don’t have far to walk.
• Apply a fly repellent pour-on and a disinfectant to the wound.
• Place lambs in a clean pen immediately after docking to reduce the risk of infection.
*A future article will cover the various techniques of docking and treatment.
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 | Roelof Bezuidenhout is a fourth-generation wool, mohair, mutton and game farmer and freelance journalist. Attended Free State University, majoring in animal husbandry and pasture science. Other interests include agricultural extension and rural development. |
