thumb and two fingers and pulled out, one at a time, with the sper- 

 matic cord attached. If the lamb is rather old and the cords will not 

 pull out, they can be cut or scraped off above the testicles." 51 The 

 operator should have clean hands and a knife thoroughly disinfected. 

 The wound should be washed with a two or three per cent, solution 

 of a standard coal tar disinfectant. Lambs are best castrated when 

 two to four weeks of age. After the operation the pens in which 

 the lambs are kept should be cleaned and bedded to avoid infectiton. 



Fig. 23. The correct manner of leading a sheep. 



Docking. 



By docking is meant the removal of the tail. This operation 

 should be done one week following or previous to castration, since the 

 two operations are too severe for the lamb to endure at one time. All 

 up-to-date sheep men dock the lambs. The tail is a source of filth, 

 and encourages trouble from maggots. Undocked breeding ewes are 

 often unbred because of their tails. Lambs that are docked appear 

 more blocky and uniform, and therefore bring higher prices than un- 

 docked lambs. The operation may be performed when lambs are 

 from one to four weeks of age. 



61 U. S. Agricultural Department Bulletin No. 20, 1913. 



54 



