196 THE RURAL EFFICIENCY GUIDE STOCK 



Marking Lambs. Every owner of sheep should have some system of 

 marking his sheep and with pure bred lambs it is necessary to keep records of 

 each individual for proper identification. 



The Dana Ear Label is one of the most satisfactory methods of keeping 

 individuals properly identified and these should be inserted the first or second 

 day to insure against mistakes and to do the work most conveniently. 



Castrating and Docking Lambs. With the exception of the lambs that 

 are to be retained for breeding purposes, all buck lambs should be castrated. 

 Buck lambs retained for breeding purposes must be separated from the rest 



Docking a Lamb. 



of the flock at about three to four months of age, and given special care and 

 feed. Allowing lambs to run uncastrated with the flock results in greater 

 losses than perhaps many realize. 



Choosing a bright day when lambs are one to two weeks old, having a pen 

 bedded with clean straw in which to turn lambs, using a disinfectant to insure 

 against infection, cutting off the lower third of the bag, drawing the testicles 

 out quickly with the fingers or a pair of pinchers, and applying some of the 

 disinfectant to the wound, accomplishes the act of castration successfully and 

 without danger of losses. 



All lambs should be docked. It is best to dock ram lambs five to seven 

 days after they have been castrated for the reason that docking and castrating 

 is most too severe a shock for best results. Ewe lambs should be docked at 

 the age of eight to fourteen days. 



Loss of blood is the principal difficulty in docking where methods of cutting 

 the tail off" with a knife or a chisel are employed. This is overcome by the use 

 of the docking iron shown in the accompanying cut and which burns and sears 

 the tail off in a manner to prevent any loss of blood. The shock does not appear 

 greater than that from other methods. 



