DOCKING AND CASTRATING 283 



flocks often fail to do this, but they are always criticized as being 

 guilty of neglect. It is better to dock and castrate when the lambs 

 are from eight to sixteen days of age, as the resulting " set-back " 

 in growth is least at that time. For the sake of convenience, both 

 docking and castrating should be done at the same time. Opinions 

 vary as to whether the operation should be performed early in the 

 day or in the evening, but it seems that the lambs bleed less if they 

 are operated upon either before they become active in the morning 

 or when they are about to bed down for the night. A bright clear 

 day with a prospect of several more to follow is the best kind of 



FIG. 183. Raised in a dry lot, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois. 



weather for docking and castrating; healing proceeds faster then 

 than when the weather is damp and cold. 



The operation should be conducted under sanitary conditions. 

 While the wounds are healing the lambs should not be exposed to 

 storms and they should be on dry, clean bedding at night. 



In docking, the tail should be cut about an inch from the body, 

 leaving it a little shorter on the side next the buttock. The opera- 

 tion can be performed with a knife, chisel, or docking iron. The 

 latter is an instrument with a blunt blade, which upon being heated 

 to a dull red, burns its way through the tail and sears over the 

 stump or dock so that there is no bleeding. At present a number 

 of sheepmen in the western part of the United States are enthusi- 

 astically advocating the use of the docking iron (Figs. 184 and 185) . 



In castrating, the end of the scrotum should be cut off so as to 

 permit drainage. The testicles should be grasped firmly between 

 the thumb and fingers and drawn out. The work should be done 



