[Jacob-list] Docking and MD Sheep and Wool Festival Question

[Kathryn Shirley]

I have docked Jacobs (long dock)  and not docked Jacobs.  I have had no
problems with not docking them except for one major problem--many buyers
will not buy undocked sheep.

I have found that most of my Jacobs do not have really woolly tails.
The wool on the underside is more like kemp and doesn't seem to collect
"stuff".  Also, the Jacobs lift their tales pretty high and rarely mess
on them.  The only exception I've had to this in 13 years was when I fed
a protein block that had been reformulated and caused really bad runs in
the sheep.  This didn't collect on the tails, but it sure made
"castanets" on the back ends.  Pretty gross at shearing time.  The
castanets were plentiful on both the docked and undocked sheep.

When the offending feed was removed, sanitation prevailed once again.



Kate Shirley
Humbug Farm

Steve and Trish Barrows wrote:

> Hi All-I've noticed while surfing through various web sites for farms
> with Jacobs that some breeders dock tails and others don't.  I've read
> about the pros and cons in general in sheep books, but I'd like to
> hear some breed specific comments.   Also, my husband and I will be at
> the MD S&WF (we're also taking the basic shepherding workshop).  Will
> any Jacob folks be there?  We'd like to meet you.  We can only be
> there on Saturday, so we're going to miss the Jacob show.  Thanks
> Trish
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