160 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



times one will wish to dock a mature sheep or cut 

 off a scrotum from an old ram. They should be thin 

 at the edge but not very sharp, and thick back of it 

 to hold the heat. The manner of operation is to 

 have a board with a hole bored through it of a 

 proper size to admit the tail of the lamb. This board 

 protects the adjacent parts against the heat of the 

 pinchers. They are heated to redness and quickly 

 sever the tail which will not bleed a drop. Some 

 disinfectant is then applied and the lamb let go. 

 After flies come one must watch that the stumps do 

 not become infested with maggots ; there is no other 

 danger. Pure-bred and well-fed lambs will some- 

 times bleed to death when their tails are cut with 

 knife or chisel. When no docking pinchers are at 

 hand the stumps may be corded for a few hours. 



CASTRATION OF OLD RAMS. 



These docking pinchers are convenient things to 

 have for castration of old rams, or of any sheep 

 past the age of lambhood. The method is to lay the 

 ram on his back; one man seizes the scrotum and 

 testicles and pulls them out from the body and an- 

 other simply severs them all together with the dock- 

 ing pinchers used very hot. Protect the belly against 

 the heat by using a board with slit in it. 



There is no bleeding, though the operation should 

 not be too hastily performed, as there is need of a 

 moment's contact with the hot iron to sear the arte- 

 ries. The application of disinfectants completes the 

 operation. A thin board may keep the heat from 



