Lambing - Raising Sheep - page 306

supplied with fresh milk daily. For such use, the replacer should be one that
stays in suspension well.
Care of Baby Lambs
At this point I'm assuming that your lambs are up and going. Over the next
few months, there are a number of things that need to be done.
Vaccination
If pneumonia is a problem, vaccinate newborn lambs with an intranasal vac-
cination, as opposed to relying entirely on the passing of immunity through
the mother's colostrum. Each lamb should also be given its own vaccina-
tion for tetanus, enterotoxemia, and other clostridial diseases by the age of
10 weeks.
Docking
If you're lambing in a barn, tails should be docked (removed) before the lambs
are turned out. Lambs on pasture are usually easily caught for docking when
they're 2 or 3 days old, but if you let them get any older, they become diffi cult
to catch because by 4 days of age they start running really fast. Docking is
also much less traumatic on the lamb when it's only 2 or 3 days old and the
tail is still small. Sheep of most breeds are born with long tails, and these can
accumulate large amounts of manure in the wool, attracting fl ies and then
maggots (fl y-strike). In other words, the tail can serve as a general source of
fi lth, interfering with breeding, lambing, and shearing.
There are many ways to remove tails, and some are better than others.
Docking can be done by a number of methods:
■ A dull knife (a sharp knife causes more bleeding)
■ A knife and hammer over a wooden block
■ A hot electric chisel or clamp (this cauterizes the wound to lessen
bleeding)
■ A Burdizzo emasculator and knife (which crushes the ends of the blood
vessels)
■ An Elastrator, which applies a small strong rubber ring to cut off the
circulation, causing the tail to drop off in a couple of weeks
This is one thing on which Paula and I agree completely: We both favor
the Elastrator because it minimizes shock and eliminates bleeding problems.
The Elastrator is quite economical in terms of supplies and equipment needed