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Length of docked tail and the incidence of rectal prolapse in lambs¹

D. L. Thomas^*,2, D. F. Waldron, G. D. Lowe, D. G. Morrical, H. H. Meyer^¶, R. A. High^#, Y. M. Berger^**, D. D. Clevenger, G. E. Fogle^#, R. G. Gottfredson^*, S. C. Loerch, K. E. McClure^,3, T. D. Willingham, D. L. Zartman^# and R. D. Zelinsky^*,4

^* Department of Animal Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53706; and Agriculture Experiment Station, Texas A&M University, San Angelo 76901; and Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster 44691; and Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames 50011; and ^¶ Department of Animal Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331; and ^# Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210; and and ^** Spooner Agricultural Research Station, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Spooner 54801

² Correspondence: 1675 Observatory Dr. (phone: 608-263-4306; fax: 608-262-5157; E-mail: dlthomas{at}wiscmail.wisc.edu).

A multistate cooperative study was conducted to study the current issue of tail length in docked lambs and its relationship to incidence of rectal prolapse. A total of 1,227 lambs at six locations were randomly allocated to two or three tail dock treatments: 1) short—tail was removed as close to the body as possible, 2) medium—tail was removed at a location midway between the attachment of the tail to the body and the attachment of the caudal folds to the tail, and 3) long—tail was removed at the attachment of the caudal folds to the tail. Short-docked lambs had a greater (P < 0.05) incidence of rectal prolapse (7.8%) than lambs with a medium (4.0%) or a long (1.8%) dock. Female lambs had a higher (P < 0.05) incidence of rectal prolapse than male lambs. At two stations, lambs were finished either in a feedlot on a high-concentrate diet or on pasture with no grain supplementation. At one station, with a very low incidence of rectal prolapse, there was no difference in incidence between lambs finished in the feedlot or on pasture; however, at the station with a relatively high incidence of rectal prolapse, lambs in the feedlot had a higher (P < 0.05) incidence than lambs on pasture. The half-sib estimate of heritability for the incidence of rectal prolapse was low (0.14). The results of this study strongly implicate short dock length as a cause of rectal prolapse in lambs finished on high-concentrate diets. Furthermore, the results of this study and the only other study known conducted on this issue strongly suggest that docking lambs at the site of the attachment of the caudal folds to the tail will result in a negligible incidence of rectal prolapse.

Key Words: Docking • Heritability • Lambs • Rectal Prolapse • Sheep • Tail

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