Thanks Sara.Yes, Dannielle is young, thirteen.
Sorry if I upset anyone by posting the lamb pictures. Sheep, and in the spring their lambs, are very prevalent around where we live and seeing them has turned me against having them as food. I think perhaps I was hoping it would have a similar effect on someone on seeing them here.
Though after some research on the tail docking, I was happy to find that it seems those particular lambs are not bred for the table but for their wool.
Tail docking, or removing the lower part of the lamb's tail soon after birth, is a practice carried out primarily on wool sheep breeds.
Docking prevents faecal matter from accumulating on the tail and hindquarters. Research has shown that tail docking greatly reduces fly strike (or Blow-fly strike, or Myiasis), whilst having no major effect on lamb mortality or production, if carried out correctly. Docking also makes it easier to shear the sheep.
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