Docking (animal) - Agricultural Practice

Agricultural Practice

Tail docking may be performed on livestock for a variety of reasons:

• In the case of domestic pigs, where commercially raised animals are kept in close quarters, tail docking is performed to prevent injury or to prevent animals from chewing or biting each others' tails.
• Many breeds of sheep have their tails docked to reduce the build up of faeces which can encourage fly strike. Also used for this purpose is mulesing. Docking also makes it easier to view a grown ewe's udders to detect potential problems.

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While tail docking is an effective preventive method in some cases, if it is not carried out correctly it may result in other problems such as rectal prolapse or ill thrift. In lambs, tail docking at the distal end of the caudal folds tends to minimize docking effects on incidence of rectal prolapse. Docking at that length has been recommended by the American Veterinary Medical Association, In the UK the law states that for sheep docked tails should at a minimum cover the anus in male lambs, and the vulva in female lambs. These minimum lengths are also recommended in Canada

Depending on the animal and the culture, docking may be done by cutting (knife or other blade), searing (gas or electrically heated searing iron), or constriction methods, i.e. rubber ring elastration. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association indicates that pain, stress, recovery time and complications associated with docking of livestock will be minimized by docking when animals are under one week of age. However, docking of lambs within 24 hours of birth is not recommended, as it may interfere with ingestion of colostrum and/or formation of the maternal bond. In the UK the law requires that docking on sheep using constriction methods must be performed within the first week of the animal's life. The UK Farm Animal Welfare Council has noted that this limitation can be problematic in management of hill flocks where normal practice is to handle lambs as little as possible during the first week "to avoid mis-mothering, mis-adventure and injury."

Tail docking of dairy cows is prevalent in some regions. Some anecdotal reports have suggested that such docking may reduce SCC (somatic cell counts in milk) and occurrence of mastitis. However, a study examining such issues found no significant effect of docking on SCC or mastitis frequency or on four measures of cow cleanliness. Although it has been suggested that leptospirosis among dairy farm workers might be reduced by docking cows' tails, a study found that milkers' leptospiral titers were not related to tail docking. The American Veterinary Medical Association opposes "routine tail docking of cattle." Similarly, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association opposes docking tails of dairy cattle.