[Jacob-list] Docking tails and castrations

[ARTHUR PARTRIDGE]

--Mark wrote--

>The neighbor's vet visit is over and the tails are all banded, actually 

>double banded. The vet is from New Zealand and comes from a strong 

>sheep background. She said that she prefers cutting and heating 

>(cauterizing), but did not have that equipment with her. She was very 

>comfortable with banding. She said that the tails will be gone in less 

>than one month. 

>We also castrated lambs, kids, and calves and she used a knife for that.

==============
Same with my vet, she prefers cutting instead of banding for tails and
castrations.  There is no chance of accidentally leaving the ram lamb
partially intact, it only takes one....  She leaves her cauterizer here
with me.  It came in handy one day when a ewe laid down on something sharp
and started bleeding from the chest.  I tried to stop the bleeding, but
couldn't and then I remembered the cauterizer.  It sealed the wound
immediately.  Today on Sheep-list was a post about problems with tetanus
when using bands, apparently it does happen.  One suggestion was to
sterilize the bands in alcohol.  I would think that the tetanus comes in
later if there is an open wound around the band and soil, etc. gets in
there.  Another reason to make certain that the pregnant ewes are
vaccinated and the lambs are vaccinated at one month, with a booster around
two months.  I forgot the exact schedule.

Cathy
Moscow, Idaho