tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post6575497300255089593..comments2024-03-14T05:55:13.709-05:00Comments on Farmgirl Fare: Sunday Dose of Cute: All You Can Eat Mother's Day Buffet!Farmgirl Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04851855517852917202noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-91892455401610289512010-05-12T17:08:18.522-05:002010-05-12T17:08:18.522-05:00Love it! And I am jealous of your pasture~Love it! And I am jealous of your pasture~KathyB.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13076933273610590290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-70753802078580295922010-05-11T23:37:24.278-05:002010-05-11T23:37:24.278-05:00Thanks for nice grassing photos.
Lucky you!
Here...Thanks for nice grassing photos.<br /><br />Lucky you!<br /><br />Here in Denmark this month of may is so cold, that the grass is almost no-growing.<br /><br />Have to keep on moving the cattle from one field to another to keep them grassing.farmerhttp://farmer.smartlog.dk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-65718190749454820182010-05-11T22:07:19.381-05:002010-05-11T22:07:19.381-05:00Hi Everybody,
Thanks for all your comments!
Jan,
...<b>Hi Everybody,<br />Thanks for all your comments!</b><br /><br /><b>Jan,</b><br />Actually, you don't want to lay in that grass - it's full of ticks. And being covered with them ranks right up there with doing ironing and laundry on Mother's Day. ;)<br /><br /><b>As for all your questions about the tails. . .</b><br /><br />We usually dock all the lamb tails, but we have some Katahdin hair sheep in the flock now, and because they're not all woolly, they don't need their tails docked. You'll find lots of photos of our Katahdins (which we introduced to help improve internal parasites since the breed is naturally resistant) <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/search/label/katahdin%20sheep" rel="nofollow"><b>here.</b></a><br /><br />Here's a little bit about docking tails, taken from the <a href="http://www.sheep101.info/201/dockcastrate.html" rel="nofollow"><b>Sheep 201: A Beginner's Guide to Raising Sheep</b></a> website:<br /><br /><i>Docking is when the tail is shortened. Docking improves the health and welfare of sheep and lambs. It prevents fecal matter from accumulating on the tail and hindquarters of the animal. Research has shown that tail docking greatly reduces fly strike (wool maggots) [fly strike is really disgusting and awful],while having no ill effect on lamb mortality or production. Docking facilitates shearing. Not many professional sheep shearers want to shear sheep with long tails. Docking makes it easier to observe the ewe's udder and detect potential problems.<br /><br />Some markets (lamb buyers) discriminate against tailed lambs, since having a tail lowers the dressing percent (yield) of the lamb and removal of the tail during processing requires extra labor.<br /><br />Not all sheep require tail docking. Because hair sheep lambs do not have long, woolly tails, it is usually not necessary to shorten their tails. Lambs from the Northern European short-tail breeds also do not require docking. Fat-tailed sheep are usually not docked. Some producers of wooled lambs do not dock their lambs or they only dock the ewe lambs.</i><br /><br />Like I said, we do dock our wool sheep tails when the lambs are very young, but compared to most (and especially to show sheep), we leave the tails quite long. Some people literally dock the entire tail, which can lead to birthing problems for the ewe - and to me, just looks strange.<br /><br />We use the banding method to dock tails and castrate males. From Sheep 201:<br /><br /><i>The easiest and most common method of tail docking is to apply a rubber ring (or band) to the tail using an elastrator tool. Banding is a bloodless method of tail docking. The band cuts off the blood supply to the tail, causing the tail to fall off in 7 to 10 days. Some producers cut the tail off before it falls off to prevent potential problems.<br /><br />Banding causes some pain to the lamb, but the pain is short-lived.</i><br /><br />You can see the banded lambs' tails in <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2006/04/daily-farm-photo-42806.html" rel="nofollow"><b>this photo.</b></a><br /><br />And that's today's sheep lesson! : )Farmgirl Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04851855517852917202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-38684526728902226872010-05-11T18:53:46.893-05:002010-05-11T18:53:46.893-05:00Does the large ewe in the middle have a long tail?...Does the large ewe in the middle have a long tail?<br /><br />I wish we had pasture grass like that.Chai Chaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05845100961653150736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-20059069189900156472010-05-11T13:35:21.814-05:002010-05-11T13:35:21.814-05:00Adorable lambs! Our calves are pretty cute too. Lo...Adorable lambs! Our calves are pretty cute too. Love spring.Window On The Prairiehttp://windowontheprairie.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-29085909912770728072010-05-10T10:23:51.986-05:002010-05-10T10:23:51.986-05:00Oh wow, I want to lay in the grass (so green it ma...Oh wow, I want to lay in the grass (so green it makes my eyes ache) with the dogs and the lambs and look up at the clouds floating by. But I spent MY Mother's Day doing ironing and laundry. Sigh.<br /><br />I was wondering about the tails, too. I see at least one of the mamas with a long tail. And once again, I LOVE the spots!Jan Blawathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06697621979002856884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-53715921577897456502010-05-10T09:38:51.078-05:002010-05-10T09:38:51.078-05:00Love your Mom & Babies photos ...Love your Mom & Babies photos ...JChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13434534658681194289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-58879100939683129172010-05-10T09:26:50.082-05:002010-05-10T09:26:50.082-05:00Nothing so happy as grazing animals that get to gr...Nothing so happy as grazing animals that get to graze after a winter of hay-eating.Kristin @ Going Countryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00221544641416039741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-52147936339515241792010-05-10T09:21:22.797-05:002010-05-10T09:21:22.797-05:00Love the ones of Daisy with the lambs just grazing...Love the ones of Daisy with the lambs just grazing around her -- "excuse me, Daisy. Urp. Just going to eat around you here. Urp." Adorable!Pegi Frostholmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03111051899464532717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-3605645310209266482010-05-10T07:41:17.264-05:002010-05-10T07:41:17.264-05:00As usual, the photos are fantastic and the animals...As usual, the photos are fantastic and the animals are too cute.jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05925212233815659494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-67956672396700105242010-05-10T06:32:45.641-05:002010-05-10T06:32:45.641-05:00could use some of that sweet grass for my animals ...could use some of that sweet grass for my animals - but a good rain this week will perk our pastures back up. So quite an assortment of rear ends there - no tail docking? Some tail docking? or do the new sheep not get messy bums?LindaSuehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01684545110832413808noreply@blogger.com