LAMB MARKING DOWN-UNDER.

The Old Ram-Australia

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G'day,I thought this may be of interest to you all up there.I picked up this 'cradle' years ago at a farm sale,it was designed for de-sexing piglets but its ideal for lambs because one person can operate with 'both' hands free.

The lamb does not 'struggle' because the head is not supported and so it is concentrating on holding it up and cannot 'kick' with the rear legs at the same time.The bar at the top goes across the chest and holds the front legs 'firm' without injury.If you look closely at the shot of the ewe lamb you can see the extent of the 'bare' area on the tail I band at the furthermost point from the body of this bare patch.

If you have Hog Breeders in your area the chances are that they will have one of these 'laying' about somewhere.I hope the pic's and text are of value and interest...T.O.R.
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Goat Whisperer

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That is interesting! I think I'd prefer using the pin to hold it in place over the strap though.

I wouldn't have any use for it, I raise goats so no tail banding and I cut to castrate. I like gravity to help during castration.
 

The Old Ram-Australia

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G'day, the point of the post was to examine the animal welfare and the safety of the operator during this common task regarding sheep.The reason use the' banding' as against the 'cut method' of castration, it is safer for the operator,its bloodless and there is less chance of infection as the wounds are completely healed before the purse and tail falls off.

Were I to be "grabbed by the balls " and be attacked with a sharp implement ,I'm bloody sure I would be "kicking and screaming" and doing my best to inflict some injury on the operator.

In my case I needed a system which I could operate safely and single handed to do the job .Down here all the commercial holders require at least two people to complete the task...T.O.R.
 

Sheepshape

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Now I KNOW I'm too soft for this game! My ram lambs keep their nuts and I use a 'hot knife' for docking which seems to give them no pain whatever as the pain nerve fibres are fried. I'm not even keen on inflicting pain in vaccinations/injections, but do it as I know that to do nothing is not an option

However, I'm absolutely at home with my arm up to the elbow in a ewe if help is needed with lambing.....so there's some consolation!
 

Goat Whisperer

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G'day, the point of the post was to examine the animal welfare and the safety of the operator during this common task regarding sheep.The reason use the' banding' as against the 'cut method' of castration, it is safer for the operator,its bloodless and there is less chance of infection as the wounds are completely healed before the purse and tail falls off.

Were I to be "grabbed by the balls " and be attacked with a sharp implement ,I'm bloody sure I would be "kicking and screaming" and doing my best to inflict some injury on the operator.

In my case I needed a system which I could operate safely and single handed to do the job .Down here all the commercial holders require at least two people to complete the task...T.O.R.
My above post wasn't to be an augment on what method is best. I could care less on what method you use. I have never had blood while cutting BTW. And they don't move much. Nor have I had a problem with tetanus or infection.
All that aside, I thought it was a great tool and are glad you shared it. :thumbsup I was just saying, in my situation I wouldn't be able to use it. Sheep and goats are very different.
 

Baymule

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T.O.R. I like the cradle, I googled them, but didn't find a place to buy one, only the plans for building one. Either way, I have lots of scrap lumber around and it doesn't look too difficult to put one together. Thanks for posting this.
 

norseofcourse

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Looks like a neat holder to have. I know someone who made a 'lamb holder' with a section of PVC pipe.

A friend comes over to hold my male lambs for wethering, I use the Burdizzo-type tool that crushes the spermatic cords/blood supply. If I couldn't find someone to help, something like this would work well. My sheep are naturally short-tailed, so I don't have to dock tails.
 

Bossroo

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Thank you TOR for showing us a very interesting idea. The few times that I had to mark lambs by myself - I caught the lambs, tied the 4 legs together, place them between my feet and onto a board that was on the ground then marked them. TIME CONSUMING and not to mention Oh my ACING BACK ! Think of marking 50 +/- lambs at a time by yourself. I have marked lambs by the hundreds for many years ( about 500 / year ) using the cut method. To this day I have never been harmed by a lamb at the time of de- tailing with a hot iron and / or castrating using a knife. Also, I have never lost a lamb due to loss of miniscule amount of blood if any at all from cutting the scrotum or even an infection from the procedure. Any lamb might put up just as much of a fight or struggle or complaint or shock in being placed upside down and strapped in and being banded as the knife method. One could just as easily be "injured " by a lamb using ether method. The only advantage of using the cradle is that one person can do the job but the TIME it takes to catch the lamb, strap it in then doing the docking and the castration goes up many times fold. Both methods work ether way.
 

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