Rethinking traditional husbandry practices - changing the lengths to which lambs' tails are docked
| Autor: | Mark W. Fisher |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Farmers
Sheep General Veterinary 040301 veterinary sciences 0402 animal and dairy science Zoology Economic shortage 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences General Medicine Animal husbandry Biology 040201 dairy & animal science 0403 veterinary science Red Meat Docking (dog) Attitude Sexual receptivity Animals Humans Animal Husbandry Domestication |
| Zdroj: | The Veterinary record. 186(10) |
| ISSN: | 2042-7670 |
| Popis: | Animals have tails for many reasons, such as helping with balance, providing shade, for use in defence, for dealing with skin irritations, as a means of locomotion and to aid in marking territory. They are also a part of the animal’s behavioural display, and, alongside changes in whole-body posture, can communicate states of greeting, aggression, sexual receptivity and so on. As a result of domestication, beginning in the eighth and seventh millennia BC, sheep have very long tails – natural populations rarely have more than 10 tail vertebrae, whereas domesticated sheep may have as many as 35 – and a woolly fleece.1,2 As such, the tails of sheep in many countries are routinely docked to reduce faecal soiling and urine staining – thus reducing susceptibility to flystrike – and facilitate husbandry practices such as shearing. However, tail docking also has implications for the animal, and there is no shortage of studies on the impacts of tail docking.3-6 Many describe the impact that pain from docking has on lambs’ welfare, while others explore the consequences of different tail lengths on, for example, flystrike (sheep with very long or very short tails appear to be most … |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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