You may have seen sheep without tails or those with short ones roaming around fields or at a fair. While this could lead you to assume that these animals naturally have short or no tails, is that always the case? Do sheep have long tails?
Yes. Many sheep breeds naturally have long tails. However, some sheep are born with short tails while others are born with long ones, but their owners docked them.
This post discusses this question in detail and also explores the purpose of tails in sheep.
Do Sheep Have Long Tails or Short Tails?
Depending on the breed, sheep are born with either tall, short, or in a bobtail. Wool sheep tend to have long tails, while sheep from Northern Europe naturally have short tails or rat tails (woolless, thin tails).
The tail length for Crossbreed sheep is usually a midpoint between the length of the ram’s tail and the length of the ewe’s tail.
The lamb will have a long tail if the parents have long tails. On the other hand, a lamb born of a rat or short-tailed sheep will have a tail resembling that of its parents. If one parent has a short tail while the other has a long tail, the lamb could have a short or long tail. For example, breeds with longer tails include;
On the other hand, breeds with rat or short tails include;
- Soay
- Icelandic
- Shetland
- East Friesian
- Romanov
- Finn sheep
Are Tails in Wild Sheep Long?
Sheep that live in the wild have long tails, usually longer than the tails of domesticated sheep. However, the difference is not much; the tails are proportional to the size of the sheep’s body.
Typically, a domestic sheep’s tail part is about 16 inches (40 cm to 50 cm). On the other hand, wild sheep’s tails are around 28 to 36 inches (70 cm to 90 cm).
READ ALSO: How Do Wild Sheep Survive in The Wild Without Shearing?
Are All Sheep Born with Tails?
All sheep come into the world with stubby tails, but they are typically so tiny that seeing them is difficult.
The tails grow to about 10 cm by the time the lamb is six weeks old, which the farmers then shorten by cutting them.
The tailbones of sheep are built with cartilage; the same substance human noses are made of before fully developing. The rear-end ligaments attached to a sheep’s tailbone whither once you remove the tail.
Benefits of Sheep Tails
Although docking a sheep’s tail to a much shorter length is common among farmers, tails benefit sheep. For instance, a full-length sheep tail protects ewes’ udders from chilling, preventing possible mastitis.
Typically, a Scottish Blackface living in the hills keeps all the tail since farmers understand the extreme conditions will face raising its lambs.
Regularly, sheep shake their tails after defecating to scatter the fecal pellets. Sheep tails also protect the animals’ vulva and anus from extreme weather.
Why Do Farmers Cut Their Sheep’s Long Tails?
Intentionally cutting sheep’s tails is called docking, a common practice for practical reasons. It is usually done to lower fecal soiling and prevent fly strike.
Sheep with long tails are prone to fly strike, also known as wool maggots, which occurs when the sheep’s soft feces accumulate under the tails.
The fecal accumulation attracts flies, that then lay eggs around and hatch into maggots in the fecal mass. The larvae then attack the sheep’s flesh under their tails and even go into the vagina and rectum.
A lamb suffering from a fly strike is an ugly sight, with the sheep in discomfort and almost certainly dying.
Farmers dock fat-tailed sheep to keep fat from collecting in their tails. Also, the perception that long-tailed ewes might not mate successfully is another reason to dock sheep tails.
Tail docking is performed through different methods. These are the Burdizzo method, rubber ring method, surgical method, emasculator method, and cutter/gas burner method.
Not every sheep breed needs tail docking. These breeds can live without getting docked:
- Wiltshire Horn
- Katahdin
- Croix (Virgin Island White)
- Damara
- Dorper
- Icelandic
- East Friesian
- Augustine
- Royal White
- Santa Ines
- Pelibüey
- Barbados Blackbelly
- American Blackberry
The Risks of Docking Your Sheep
Here are the risks associated with docking your sheep.
Vagina and Rectum Prolapse
Removing your sheep’s tail to avoid fly strike causes problems as well. While rectal prolapses can be caused by genetics, most cases result from removing tails.
Sphincter muscles (circular muscles around the vulva and the anus) keep these openings closed. These muscles relax to pass urine and feces.
Any muscle must be attached to a skeleton’s bone to stay strong. In the case of sphincter muscles, the two attachments on the tailbones’ underside keep them strong, with one running forward along the sheep’s tail and the other to the back.
The issue is when you dock the tail, it removes the attachment of the posterior muscle, weakening the sphincter muscles.
You may not realize the weakness immediately, but a tailless sheep often inverts their rectum upon passing feces.
The rectum won’t wholly return in the long run, causing a prolapse. Therefore, you may want to consider this issue before docking your sheep’s tails.
Disease Transmission
Tail docking using unsterilized instruments can cause the transmission of anaplasmosis (blood disease) among lambs. This disease causes jaundice and anaemia.
Blood Loss
Your sheep could lose a lot of blood while docking if you do not crush the arteries properly. In addition, letting the sheep roam around too soon after docking can increase the risk of losing blood and prolonging the healing process.
READ ALSO: Do Sheep Smell Bad?(Can Or Should You Do Something About The Smell?)
Tetanus
Using elastic rings often leads to tetanus, with the tetanus-causing bacteria entering the tissue and multiplying, causing spastic paralysis.
The bacteria multiply about 10 days following the rubber ring application and in anaerobic conditions. Tetanus can raise sheep mortality.
However, ewe vaccination can prevent the disease if the lamb consumes enough colostrum within 6 hours of its life.
Sunburn
You risk exposing your sheep to sunburn by performing drastic docking. Consequently, causing tick bites since the ticks gravitate towards sunburnt skin.
Moreover, sunburns have been linked to cancer in sheep, and it should not come as a surprise if the wound gets infected.
The infected sunburn wound can lead to a spinal cord infection which can cause partial paralysis in your sheep’s hind legs.
Final Remarks
Depending on the region and the breed, you can see long-tailed sheep, although tail docking is a common practice today. You will easily find sheep with long tails in most parts, aside from the middle east, where fat-tailed sheep live.
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