The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: suziequeue on March 08, 2014, 07:08:09 pm
-
Ww were looking at the sheep this afternoon when OH noticed that one of the shearling ewes had her tail docked (tail docking is not the breed standard for Badger Faced sheep).
Nearby on the ground was the other half of her tail with a big bramble attached to it. The tail bone bit was sticking out the end and looked quite recent. The shearling didn't have any blood on her legs or bum.
MY LAMB HAS PULLED HER OWN TAIL OFF!!!!!!!
OH doesn't recall seeing her stuck at the top of the field at any time during the week and she seems perfectly fine - eating, moving, baa-ing etc. The tail end has got bone in it so it's not just a big bit of fleece.
I can't imagine what distress she must have ben in to have to pull so hard to get untangled from the bramble that she pulled her own tail off!!!!
Has anybody else had this experience??
-
Could there have been something caught around it a few weeks earlier cutting off the blood supply?? The tail would die back and drop off if this was the case.
I would expect blood if she tore it off with all blood supply in tact within the last couple of days on brambles :thinking:
A bit of a gruesome discovery for you either way :tired:
-
We had one bitten off by our stallion. She just had a little bit of bone/nerve sticking out with very little noticeable blood anywhere around. She spent the next couple of days moving around with the flock but lying down whenever possible and she sadly died a couple of days after. Have also had one done by a dog, that also died within a couple of days despite a lot of treatment.