So I’m in my first year of studying animal care and although I understand the practice of docking sheep tails as soon as they’re born and why it Is done I can’t quite wrap my head around how it works medically. I may be wrong but I understood that if you cut off blood flow to an area / limb (like what is done with docking) then that limb becomes necrotic and dies. So how do sheep not get sepsis or other issues while their tail is becoming necrotic and how do they heal after an appendage has suddenly fallen odd? Wouldn’t their be a large wound??
Sorry I hope this makes sense!
In: 3
Hi, farmer here. I actually don’t have a professionally answer about sepsis, all I will say is in all my years I’ve never seen an infected tail. As for the wound, or lack of, my understanding is the tail grows together above the ring, the tail won’t fall off until above the ring is ‘healed’. I’ve noticed when picking up lost tails that side is also healed.
Latest Answers