Tagging, or clatting, is the removal from the sheep of such wool as is
liable to get fouled when the animal is turned on to the fresh pastures.
If sheep are kept on dry feed through the winter, they will usually
purge, more or less, when let out to green feed in the spring. The wool
around and below the anus becomes saturated with dung, which forms into
hard pellets, if the purging ceases. Whether this take place or not, the
adhering dung cannot be removed from the wool in the ordinary process of
washing; and it forms a great impediment in shearing, dulling and
straining the shears to cut through it, when in a dry state, and it is
often impracticable so to do. Besides, it is difficult to force the
shears between it and the skin, without frequently and severely
wounding the latter. Occasionally, too, flies deposit their eggs under
this mass of filth prior to shearing; and the ensuing swarm of maggots,
unless speedily discovered and removed, will lead the sheep to a
miserable death.
Before the animals are let out to grass, each one should have the wool
sheared from the roots of the tail down the inside of the thighs; it
should likewise be sheared from off the entire bag of the ewe, that the
newly-dropped lamb may more readily find the teat, and from the scrotum,
and so much space round the point of the sheath of the ram as is usually
kept wet. If the latter place is neglected, soreness and ulceration
sometimes ensue from the constant maceration of the urine.
An assistant should catch the sheep and hold them while they are tagged.
The latter process requires a good shearer, as the wool must be cut off
closely and smoothly, or the object is but half accomplished, and the
sheep will have an unsightly and ridiculous appearance when the
remainder of their fleeces is taken off; while, on the other hand, it is
not only improper to cut the skin of a sheep at any time, but it is
peculiarly so to cut that or the bag of a ewe when near lambing. The
wool saved by tagging will far more than pay the expenses of the
operation. It answers well for stockings and other domestic purposes, or
it will sell for nearly half the price of fleece-wool.
Care should be exercised at all times in handling sheep, especially ewes
heavy with lamb. It is highly injurious and unsafe to chase them about
and handle them roughly; for, even if abortion, the worst consequence of
such treatment, is avoided, they become timid and shy of being touched,
rendering it difficult to catch them or render them assistance at the
lambing period, and even a matter of difficulty to enter the cotes, in
which it is sometimes necessary to confine them at that time, without
having them driving about pell-mell, running over their lambs, etc. If a
sheep is suddenly caught by the wool on her running, or is lifted by the
wool, the skin is to a certain extent loosened from the body at the
points where it is thus seized; and, if killed a day or two afterward,
blood will be found settled about those parts.
When sheep are to be handled, they should be inclosed in a yard just
large enough to hold them without their being crowded, so that they
shall have no chance to run and dash about. The catcher should stop them
by seizing them by the hind-leg just above the hock, or by clapping one
hand before the neck and the other behind the buttocks. Then, not
waiting for the sheep to make a violent struggle, he should throw its
right arm over and about immediately back of the shoulders, place his
hand on the brisket, and lift the animal on his hip. If the sheep is
very heavy, he can throw both arms around it, clasp his fingers under
the brisket, and lift it up against the front part of his body. He
should then set it carefully on its rump upon the tagging-table, which
should be eighteen or twenty inches high, support its back with his
legs, and hold it gently and conveniently until the tagger has performed
his duty. Two men should not be allowed to lift the same sheep together,
as it will be pretty sure to receive some strain between them. A good
shearer and assistant will tag two hundred sheep per day.
When sheep receive green feed all the year round--as they do in many
parts of the South--and no purging ensues from eating the
newly-starting grasses in the spring, tagging is unnecessary.