[Jacob-list] docked tails

[Betty Berlenbach]

I will not dock tails.  Occasionally, I will buy a sheep with a docked tail, but given a preference, I would rather not.  I think that having a tail helps me to see flystrike sooner, as there is an almost immediate wet ring around the tail when flystrike happens...I've had a few cases, with and without tails, and one on the back of a black crossbred sheep, no injury or wound, nothing...But I live up north, too, and maybe there are more problems elsewhere.  My feeling is that if you look at standardized breeds, you can see what human intervention has done in some cases...look at the smarts of standardized sheep vs. primitive.  So, if these sheep naturally have tails, I have to assume that there might possibly be a reason they are that way, and until I see a reason to modify the creator's plan, I'll go with it.
 Betty, in Vermont,who now has a blog, thanks to help from Walter and Linda.  See Betty's blog at http://sheepwoman.wordpress.com.
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