MODERN METHODS OF MARKING LAMBS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2216, 13 June 1908, Page 1

MODERN METHODS OF MARKING LAMBS.

Considerable progress lias boon made by sheopbreedera during tho last ten years in tlie methods of marking lambs (says tho “Pnstoralist’s Review”). lor many years considerable loss was incurred each year through tho crude systems in vogue. The Jobs, bqing , unnpparent, was not counted, amt it as not oven possible now to point .to tho definite saving in growth and condition talcing place from tho use of the scaring iron instead of the knife, and of. clean yards erected inside the paddocks in place of old draft, ing yards, from which tho lloclcs had to°bo driven after tlio operation was completed. But practical pastoralists, who have moved with tho times, are not in any doubt on tho point that they got better lambs and hotter wcanors through tho changes in prevailing practices. It was generally the largest and host lambs that bled tho most. How serious was this drain on „aB Jtho. Jargest.Jaiubs became evi!{lenf<*onougi! w'neii¥iicf#®d 'again one would' .die from loss of blood before nightfall. Tho deaths themselves were rarely so numerous as to make a considerable factor, but they illustrated a general sot back in the development of all tho lambs in tho iiock.

Olio of tho first changes was tliut of using clean temporary yards, erected especially for tho purpose on fresh grass land, to bo taken away again when tlio work was completed, and put up next year in somo other spot. No doubt there are slieepowners still using old, dirty enclosures, but these are in an inconsiderably minority. The first reason for tlio temporary yard is its freedom from tho germs of blood poisoning. Most lambs lie down after tailing. Tho cut purse of tho wether then comes into contact with tho ground. Tho old drafting yard probably had sheep passing through it for fifteen or twenty years, and eacli winter, lambs lmd been marked there. The soil was saturated with blood, urine, and dung. It is almost certain to contain bacteria, and some of these Were of a septic charactor. Wether lambs infected from 6uch a sourco may not, of course, die. Very many of them may suffer from, local trouble, of which they will recover; but thoro have, nevertheless, been many oases of a proportion of tho lambs marked in a certain yard dying during tlio three weeks succeeding the operation. The deaths in such instances are practically certain to result from poison picked up from tlio filth-laden ground. Another very imteniporary yard is that the lambs, after being caught in it, are dropped into their own paddock. Then when all tho lambs‘from a pen have been tailed, and let loose into tho open, tho ewes from that pen are allowed to follow them. The gradually increasing flock extends away for a quarter or half a mile, and' all the while lambs are finding tlipir mothers. By evening very few lambs are left “unmothered,” and there is no chance for them remaining all night without food, as is the case when the whole fliick is tumbled poll mell into a paddock in the dusk of tlio evening with tlio business of mothering only then to commence. The yard .should be crrected near to timbor or to warm gullies ,so ! that the lambs, as they mother, or before, will not be disposed to tho full blast of the winter wind. If there is a handy belt of"■ timber it will generally be found that the flock will gradually draw to it and spend tho night there. And, lastly, a great advantage of tailing in the paddock,whore the sheep are kept is that when once tlio lambs lie down after being operation onthey are not again disturbed. When they are driven home, bleeding is always recommenced in a number of instances, tlio scabs are rubbed off as tlio flocks squeeze together at tlio gates, and the physical exertion of walking not only exercises a directly harmful influence on tlio weakened system, but it increases tho flow of blood by stimulating tho circulating. On many largo pastoral runs marking has always been carried on in temporary yards, out of which tho lambs can 'be dropped into their own paddock. In the back country, where a paddockful of sheep cannot bo dealt with in a day, tlio custom generally .has been to muster from ono paddock into a yard, out of'which tho sheep are passed into tho noxt adjoining paddock, the latter having, of course, been emptied. But tlio method should certainly bo followed on every holding when the development of the lambs is? held to bo of value.'

Another considerable, saving in the amount of blood lost by lambs at tailing has been effected by the use of the searing iron in place of the knife. The latter instrument, which was up to a few years ago in universal use, was kept as sharp as a razor, and it severed the arteries with a clean cut, which left them to ! bleed, in a large lamb, for hours. It was not even realised that a. blunt knife with a rough-edge would have been better for the purpose. Yet tlio latter would have caused the arterial walls to contract by means of that property they possess when torn, so as to plug up their own ends. Even now quite a number of sheepowners use a sharp knife for tailing, and the blood lost through the practice is very considerable. The searing has something the same effect on the ends of the artery as would bo exercised by tearing it, that is, its results in the end being plugged. But, of course, the beat has the extra advantage of destroying any -athogenic bacterial life which may bo about tbo part at the time of the operation, and consequently it minimises tlio possibility of septic trouble ensuing later. On large runs, where time is a consideration, a large staff of men is employed, both at catching and tailing, strict supervision should be exercised to see that through the careless use of the searing iron the anus of the wethers, or both the anus and tbo organ beneath it in the ewe lambs is not burnt. The lamb should bo held back,' not forward, as is the practice when the knife is used, and tlio upper side of the iron should bo sloped away from the lamb. Where ewes get burnt, it is believed that their breeding propensities become interfered with in after life. A bad practice is sometimes adopted by those taking off the tails in that they pull too severely on the skin wih the left band. Consequently after the tail has been severed, the skin pulls up into its place, leaving the extreme cut end without any protection, so that a large scab forms. It is better for the reverse to take place, and then the scab will be small, and the healing will be accelerated. The proper searing of lambs’ tails depends on both the catchers and the man with the iron exercising care. The catcher should take both a fore and a hind leg in each hand. He should cateli the legs high up. If ho holds thorn near the feet lie will have but a weak grip, and the lamb will be able to struggle, which often will result in. burning. The lamb should be rested oil tbo top of the fence, or on a plank placed there for the pUr-jP-if?*-*' T

pose, with tho spine at about tho hips coming into contact with tlio rail. The younger the lamb tlio easier does tlio operation of castration prove. Some operators do it deal of injury by acting oh the fallacy that it is bettor to cut deeply into tlio purse than to make, an incision just largo enough to squeeze tho stones out of. The idea this view is based on is that a largo cut lets out more blood and dirt. It is forgotten, that no necessity arises to let out dirt which does not got in, and that far more gets in when the purse is practically cut in two than if only a. small opening were made. A wide cut purse will open when squeezed against the ground on tlie wether lying down, jmd it will then take in dirt. Tile lips of it will often bo apart, and it will rub with other parts of the body when the lamb walks. Tliero are decided objections for other reasons against unnecessary cutting. One is that undue loss of blood, every drop of which means so much leeway the lamb has afterwards to make up. This is especially imnortaiih in tho case of lambs to bo sold for export. In dealing with tho latter, it lias just proved successful to mills;;*,.twq>vyory> s m a T]' :: *ciits,‘' A’hbfp just largo enough to admit the passage of the stone, and instead of pulling the string out, to cut it. The result is a decreased shock, decreased loss oi blood, and less risk of poisonang-

Through tliero lias been pogress during recent years in tlio methods employed for tailing, there is still room in many nlaces for progress in the skill with which these methods are put into operation. The breeder should remember that every ounce of development his lambs' unnecessarily lose is so much spring grass, wasted.' Loss of development in a. lamb, moreover, is often never made Up afterwards, and the effects may still lie with tlio grown floclr.