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Today is sheep docking day. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I was invited to come along and told to bring a camera. I rarely turn down an opportunity to hike in Shakespear Park, especially ones that involve the lambs.

Living on the doorstep of an Auckland Regional Park, we have access to great hiking trails, a variety of beaches, and farm animals – in this case, sheep and cows. We all know the city girl in me is still intimidated by the cows, even after living in New Zealand for 12 years. Thankfully, today’s story is about sheep and lambs.

What is Docking?

Before I left the house, I looked up docking lambs: “Docking is the intentional removal of part of an animal’s tail.” At that moment my enthusiasm for the day drained a bit, but my curiosity took over. Why would anyone intentionally remove a lamb’s tail?

The park ranger offered an answer. It turns out that tails that are left on get covered in excrement. The odour attracts blowflies which then lay eggs in on sheep. The eggs hatch and the maggots eat the flesh of the lamb, and in the process poison the sheep, resulting in an illness called Flystrike. It is far worse than anything that takes place during the docking process.

As it turns out docking lambs is a procedure that has been done by sheep farmers for centuries.

Setting Up for Docking Lambs

Not sure exactly what to expect, I hopped on one of the “mules” and the team headed up the paddock that houses twin lambs.

Cows on the road in Shakespear Park Auckland New Zealand
Just my luck, cows on the road (as seen through the dirty front window of the mule I rode in, we were second in the caravan).
Setting up fences and gates before docking the lambs in Shakespear Park Auckland New Zealand
Once in the paddock, the Rangers and volunteers quickly set up fences and gates before rounding up the lambs.
Dogs muster sheep and lambs in New Zealand.
The dogs muster (roundup) the sheep and lambs towards the newly set up pen, while volunteers wait to close the gate once they are inside.
Sheep and Lambs in a pen awaiting sorting in New Zealand
The sheep and lambs in the pen look as though they are smiling for the camera. They are not.
Drafting the sheep to separate the lambs and the mature sheep in Shakespear Park
Drafting is next. It is the process of sorting the animals. In this case, the lambs went into pens, while the sheep were released back into the larger paddock.
Working dog leaping over a fence.
The dog leaps out of the pen after rounding up the sheep.
Mama sheep waiting for their lambs as docking is in progress.
Mama sheep waiting for their lambs while docking is in progress. The bleating continued for a while.  Poor mamas.

Docking lambs - click for docking process photos

Ranger removing a lamb from the docking cradle in Shakespear Park New Zealand
After the docking, a Ranger removes a lamb from the docking cradle by his back legs. The lamb runs off to its mama.
Ranger removing a lamb from the docking cradle in Shakespear Park New Zealand
“Oops”
Lamb just after docking with her new short tail.
Don’t worry, she is fine. Here she is just after docking with her new short tail bouncing off to find her mama.
Returning to the Ranger Station in Shakespear Park, Auckland New Zealand
Feeling a bit sad from the entire process, I opted to walk but captured this photo as one of the vehicles passed me by on their way to a break before heading to another paddock for more docking lambs.

This was a tough day for me. My compassionate side couldn’t understand why they would do this, but my rational knows it is far better than the alternative.

Shakespear Park, at the end of Whangaparaoa Peninsula, is one of several of the Auckland Regional Parks have farming programmes to help bring awareness and exposure to the community.

Had you heard of docking lambs before today? What do you think of the way it is done?

If you found this post interesting, please pin it:

Watching the lamb docking was a rather unsettling experience and a mix of emotions from Awww to Ewww. This page contains only the cute photos. The graphic ones are hidden.

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Comments

  1. Hair sheep tails are more similar to the ancestor of modern sheep, the Mouflon, which has a short, wooless tail. Rat-tailed sheep Some wooled breeds have naturally short tails or thin, woolless tails that also do not require docking.

    Reply

  2. First time to hear about it! I find it shocking but accepted it after learning about the reason behind that process. Very informative post!

    Love the photos!

    Reply

  3. This is the first time I heard about this docking process.Anyway it is a sad story for me.I actually skipped the photos of docking process.Anyway,these photos are beautiful and love all the sheep and lambs…

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  4. I’m a city girl married to a country guy. He knows all of this stuff about docking and such. You took some great photos, though I skipped the ones of the actual docking process.

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  7. Thank you for sharing. I knew that docking was done but have never actually seen it. I did work on a cattle station for a few year and so I have seen branding, castrating, tagging, dehorning and ear clipping. When you know the reasoning behind it, it makes it easier to deal with. I do have to say it has never really bothered me. When I first started working out west castrating was a little more gruesome than what you described but animal wellfair put there nose in it and bands came in (which cost money). It is a much nicer method but to be honest the old way never seemed to bother the calves, they were more worried about where their mum was.
    I did read through some comments and those that said this is and issue in Aus were right. This and anything else involved. Just recently one of the animal wellfair groups had a big advertising campaign that was anti shearing which was just ridiculous.
    I am glad you were able to see what happens and to also see that for the most part the lambs don’t seemed to be worried. It is for their health after all. Fly blown sheep are not pretty and it is a cruel way for them to be and even die.
    This was very interesting and I am glad you were able to share and educate. Probably a good choice to have the option to see the more gruesome photos. Nice captures of the whole experience.

    Reply

    • I would imagine, like you, the more I was around it the less it would bother me, but this was my first time both learning about it and seeing it. I wasn’t mentally prepared to see the hot iron. I was glad the ranger took time to explain not only the process, but reasons behind it all. Without that knowledge, I think I would have written this quite differently. I agree, blowfly strike would be much worse than docking.

      Apparently the process in Australia is a bit different, and more gruesome than New Zealand. However, if it is an issue there, I am surprised it hasn’t become one here as well.

      Thanks for the additional insights.

      Reply

  8. I had never heard of this procedure, and I didn’t click on the link, but it does sound like a better alternative to the blowfly infestation.

    Reply

  9. A a city girl too, so as long s I don’t have to do it myself, I can see the benefit of wanting to prevent an outbreak of disease.

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  10. I definitely didn’t look at the ‘graphic’ pics, as i was already squeamish just reading the title…but I am glad to hear that they just trotted away after to their moms.

    Reply

  13. Interesting post and great photos!
    The topic (the long tails of the sheep) evoked a lively conversation between family members about evolutionary processes, natural selection etc., but unfortunately my English is not good enough for writing a reasonable recap. 🙂
    Have a lovely day!

    Reply

  14. I didnt know about this process till now. We visit a lot of farms and I think its not talked about but would ask the next time we go. Its a bit weird to read about it but its needed me thinks. But its something that I dont want to see because I would probably cry.

    Reply

  15. My favorite shots are of the dog leaping over the gate and the lamb upside down in the air. I wonder if docking them at one month is also less painful for the animals. I am glad it is done because being invaded by blowflies would be torture. Great shots.

    Reply

    • Thanks. I almost left the dog photo off the post as there were so many photos. Now I am glad I didn’t. I am guessing it is less painful, as they recommend pain relief after six months.

      Reply

  16. I am a former pet of an Old English Sheepdog, who had a bobbed tail.
    Yes, no typos here – I was the pet 🙂
    Heck, even my motorcycle has bobbed fenders.
    I understand the reasons for doing that for lambs – I think.
    I liked the details and the nice set of photos.
    Have a Beautiful Week!
    Peace 🙂

    Reply

  19. I find it hard to know where I stand on these things. Clearly they’re doing it for the long term health of the animal but it still sounds brutal in a way. But I’m also not a farmer so they’ve probably seen what more brutal things happen if they don’t do this.

    Reply

    • I agree with you, it is a difficult issue. With 500 lambs, and a procedure that takes way less than a minute, they can’t really take time to do it more humanly, and clearly it is necessary.

      Reply

  20. I’m glad the one that fell is ok! I’ve got to say that I’ve never heard of docking lambs. Sounds sad, but if it’s important to do to prevent poo from getting on the tail then they’ve got to do what they’ve got to do.

    Reply

    • Funny, that is what I think about every time I think to myself, “How can they do this without pain killers?” Then I remember humans do similar to our little baby boys.

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  22. No, I’ve never heard of docking lambs. Yes, I did visit your other post. (not as graphic as I would have liked- just kidding.) I’ve seen them castrate pigs like that on Dr. Pol – but never heard of the docking process.

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  24. I’ve never heard of docking and I agree that it does sound cruel at first. I won’t be looking at those pictures. On a positive note, I’ve always wanted to pet a lamb. And that one that was flipping in the air is really cute. I want her! lol

    Reply

  27. Interesting, though a part of me read this whole article and thought, “Was this as humane as it could have been?” For a large scale operation, sedation and proper amputation probably isn’t feasible, but it still made me a bit sad, too.

    Reply

    • I read a few other articles and it appears they suggest pain killers if the animal is 6 months or older. These lambs are closer to one month old. They did close to 500, most in a day.

      Reply

  29. I’ve never heard of this before. It does seem mean at first, but thank you for explaining the reasons they do it. If I were a sheep, I’d rather lose my tail young than have blowflies lay eggs on me for years to come. Ugh!!

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  31. Rhonda, at least there’s a good reason for the lambs tail docking. I’m familiar with dogs tail docking and sometimes it’s just for cosmetic reasons, which is NOT cool. I couldn’t look at the “graphic” photos so thanks for the warming.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  33. Does NZ get into as much trouble as Australia over this practice. I’m fairly sure that there have been all sorts of calls for banning Australian wool in Europe because farmers here dock the lambs’ tails but like you were told I always understood the process was more humane than leaving the tails on.

    Reply

      • There was a letter to the editor in the Australian just this morning defending the practice after someone else (I didn’t see this letter) suggested that Australia would ‘pay the price’ for failing to ban it. As I understand it the farmers say it is far more humane to dock tails than to leave sheep open to fly-strike but some animal welfare groups violently disagree. I wonder if the problem isn’t that fly-strike is more of an issue in Australia than it is in countries where our wool is marketed. I imagine the same might be true of NZ.

        Reply

        • I searched our National newspaper and the most recent article I could find on docking lamb was from Oct. 2013, and it was just one farmer who didn’t dock the tails of 220 lambs which were headed to the works that season. Interesting that the controversy hasn’t crossed over here.

          Reply

  34. This was fascinating I had never heard of it before and it did sound a bit cruel at first but once I read your post I fully understood it all and could see the obvious logic in it.

    We have a programme on here at the moment it’s z-listers celeb’s learning to be shepherds and competing with each other and guess what they named it….wait for it….Flockstars LOL and I can confirm it is truly awful LOL.

    Have a docktastic day Rhonda 🙂

    Reply

  36. I couldn’t watch the docking procedure either, but how awful that must have been for you. We had a Boston terrier and they usually dock their little tails too, not for the same reason, probably just because they are so short anyway. But I couldn’t. She was my little girl and beautiful as she was. Farm life is rough, and some of the things that occur, not easy to tolerate. As a child I watched my grandfather behead the chicken we were going to have for dinner. I can’t help but wonder if my fear of beheading (nightmares) stem from that incident.
    Lovely photographs.

    Reply

  38. Hello, It is a new experience for me too. I hope it does not hurt the lambs too much. I have heard of some dogs having their tail docked too. Great photos, thanks for sharing your day at the farm! Have a happy new week!

    Reply

    • They say the cauterizing blocks the nerves as well as stops the bleeding, so it only hurts the little lambs at the beginning. However, I read that if they are six months or older they need to be given pain killers. These babies were all born in July.

      Reply

  39. I had forgotten about docking. Been a long time since I last knew someone who kept sheep–back in the 70s! At first I thought it might be because tails get in the way of shearing. Poor males! Going around with a rubber band squeezing their whatchamacallits for weeks. (Yes, I clicked through to the other pix.)

    The dog is a sure athlete, isn’t he? The sweet lamb, who twisted onto her back as she was released, not so much. But looks like she righted herself okay. The ewes appear distressed and giving what-for to the handlers for taking their babies, don’t they?

    Thanks for a another wonderful photo essay. Beautifully executed.

    Reply

    • Yes, the ewes were very distressed. Poor mamas. Actually, I think everyone, except the Rangers and some of the volunteers were stressed by some aspect of this. The poor little boys, had ears clipped, rubber band added and tail cut. I hope it’s not painful until they drop off.

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  40. I didn’t know the purpose for this, but being a farm girl I knew there had to be a good reason. And there was. Thanks for sharing your experience.

    Have a fabulous day Rhonda. ♥♥♥

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  41. This article was very interesting but as a man it pained me when you mentioned about castrated by having a band placed tightly around the balls, OUCH! I guess it has to done but………………………….ha,ha,ha.
    Have a relaxful Monday Rhonda. Now I’m going to find something funny to watch. LOL See ya.

    Cruisin Paul

    Reply

  43. Hi Rhonda – it’s a sensible procedure .. unfortunately … but blowfly infestations are far worse … I’m glad you had the opportunity to go and understand a little more … even if it wasn’t quite your scene …

    Thanks for censoring the photos … I didn’t look … cheers Hilary

    Reply

    • The photos are not really that bad, my girls suggested that I leave them all in. So I am glad that I made the right choice. I do agree, it’s important, but still bothersome.

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  44. What a fascinating (albeit slightly gruesome) experience that must have been. I have to say I skipped the photos of the docking procedure. The lambs are adorable – I don’t think I could have docked them, but I get the necessity of it.

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    • The actual docking was done by the park rangers. The volunteers did the lifting, ear clipping and helping with the fence, and me taking the photos. No way I could have done any of it. I didn’t even want to touch the balls when the Ranger was showing me how he castrated the boys.

      Reply

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