Navajo Churro's long tails ?

horsepoor21 · #1 02/27/11, 04:20 PM

We had our first Navajo Churro lamb born yesterday !

We are not impressed with the breeds long tails . It's always nasty back there .

We were thinking of banding all the lambs tails , just to avoid that mess . I wondered if anyone knows if that will affect being able to register them ?

I've never read up on banding tails as I read we didn't have to with this breed .
If we decide to do it , how old is too old to do it ?

I have bands for calves ,may I use one of those ?

And how high up do I do it ?

Thankyou so much in advance for help ,I appreciate it !

Maura · #2 02/27/11, 05:23 PM

I looked it up. All the breed standard says is that it is a long tailed breed without a fat tail. You probably need to keep the tails. My sheep have their tails and they are not a problem except when they are overweight and cannot lift the tail. Have you thought of crutching the sheep in between shearings? This is where the wool is shorn in the nether regions, usually just before lambing.

horsepoor21 · #3 02/27/11, 07:08 PM

We did crutch them . It's just that even the lamb ,who's only 24 hours old , is all dirty back there already .

So it's completely normal for long tailed sheep to have "dingle berries" as well call them (LOL) matted up back there ?

I don't believe our sheep are overweight but they're so wooly I can't feel much . Can't say I've ever seen them lift their tails though .... but wasn't looking for it either . Will now !
Thankyou ! I will just let it be . I was really just curious .

**Ross** · #4 02/27/11, 07:37 PM

To be PB they need dirty tails???? I'd dock them long (well I dock all my sheep long) so they stay clean.

horsepoor21 · #5 02/27/11, 07:39 PM

Okay ,what's "docking long" ?

**Ross** · #6 02/27/11, 07:53 PM

Long enough to cover their genitils and maybe a joint longer if it looks like that would still stay clean. On ours we get a few with very short tails we simply band the last 1 or 2 joints off (occasionally none) and on others the tail is almost as long as their rear legs so obviously more. They all have the same number of joints of course just physically longer bones! I know some breeds have nice tidy tails but most man made breeds need the managment tail docking is part of. We do ours under a week old but I want them nursing well and physically robust. I have left tails on weak lambs, they're not joining the flock so why stress them with a tail docking?

horsepoor21 · #7 02/27/11, 08:57 PM

Ah ,I see .

I'll have to discuss this with my husband ,see what he wants to do. I sure would like to have them cleaner .

Thankyou again !

SilverFlame819 · #8 02/27/11, 11:20 PM

Strange. All the Churros I've ever been around were docked, although I have never known anyone who shows. Their tails are long and furry like just any other breed. My ewes were docked. Of course - I docked them. Their wool was so soft and thick that I would have had a holy mess on the back end of them if they had tails... To me that's like leaving your Columbia/Rambouillets with tails... Weird. It would make sense to me on a short-tailed or fine-coated breed, but doesn't make much sense to me with wooly buggers.