Changes in animal regulations means farmers will need to be aware of how much tail they are leaving on their lambs at docking this spring.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Senior Advisor on Biosecurity and Animal Welfare, Will Halliday, says the new regulations, that came into force in May, require tails be docked to a length no shorter than the distal end of the caudal fold.
He says these changes have been flagged for a couple of years, but they are now in place and farmers need to comply with these regulatory changes.
"Before docking gets underway, I recommend farmers familiarise themselves with the required tail length and importantly, make sure everyone else working in the docking gang knows it too."
Find out more
- For more information go to: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2018/0050/latest/whole.html#LMS493017
- Download our useful factsheet on Animal welfare obligations for painful husbandry procedures in sheep (PDF, 79KB)