Best practice marking of lambs Lambs should be marked between two and 12 weeks of age, with the youngest animal in the mob at least 24 hours old, to ensure the formation of a maternal bond. If lambing extends for more than six weeks, consider having two mulesing/marking sessions. Lambs should be tail docked using a gas-heated knife or rubber rings and mulesing should only be carried out when necessary. The provision of pain relief with routine husbandry procedures benefits animal health and welfare and is now a consumer and community expectation. Producers have access to registered products that can relieve pain associated with mulesing, tail docking and castration. _____________________________________________________________________________ Castration and tail docking Castration should be performed on lambs as There are two types of gas knives available to early as management practices will allow, producers in Australia, a standard knife and a preferably before 12 weeks of age. Pain relief rotating anvil knife (known as the Te Pari Patesco should be used for tail docking and castration. knife®). Registered pain relief options are available in Both knives cause similar wounds and work in the Tables 1 and 2. same way. However, a Te Pari knife has a rotating Current methods of castration include: anvil which stretches the woolly skin prior to cutting. This leaves a greater bare area where Rubber rings applied according to the wool would normally grow and be at risk of urine manufacturer's recommendations. stain and dags. Cutting. The lambs should be properly restrained and the knife must be kept clean and sharp. Tail docking of lambs is recommended for blowfly control under the Code of Practice for Sheep in Western Australia, 2003 (COP – Sheep). Acceptable methods of tail docking include: rubber rings applied according to the manufacturer’s recommendation; a gas flame heated searing iron (‘gas knife’) used according to the manufacturer’s recommendations or cutting with a sharp knife. The Department of Primary Industries and A wind block being used to maintain the gas Regional Development (DPIRD) recommends knife at optimum temperature that producers use rubber rings or a gas knife when tail docking. The gas knife method is generally preferable for tail docking on lambs Lambs should be docked to the third palpable that are also mulesed. joint or to the tip of the vulva in ewes and to the same length in wethers to reduce flystrike risk. If using a gas knife when the weather is Shorter tailed lambs have higher incidences of windy, a wind block can be used to maintain rectal prolapse and vulva cancer. Tail docking at the knife at optimum temperature. a shorter length does not necessarily mean less A knife that is too cold will not cut through the tail flystrike. in one motion. A knife that is too hot will cut through the tail too quickly and not cauterise the tail tip and increase blood loss. Pain relief products for use when marking lambs DPIRD recommends that producers use pain relief when mulesing, tail docking and castrating sheep. There are four registered pain relief products that producers can use at lamb marking. Some are Schedule 5 products (S5) and are available over the counter and some are Schedule 4 products (S4) and must be prescribed and dispensed by a veterinary surgeon. The veterinary surgeon must have a bone fide professional relationship with the . producer to legally dispense S4 pain relief products. Mulesing The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority (APVMA) has registered It may not be necessary to mules sheep on pain relief products for use at lamb marking – properties that are in a low risk area and on see Table 1. properties where producers actively select and breed for fly and worm resistance. Animals that will be sold for slaughter prior to the high flystrike Benefits of providing pain relief risk period do not need to be mulesed. Provision of pain relief to animals enhances Read more information on managing non their ability to cope with the painful procedure, mulesed sheep and reducing the risk of flystrike while also promoting healing by alleviation of on the department’s website, search ‘managing tissue trauma and inflammatory processes. non mulesed sheep’ and ‘manage flystrike in A product like Tri-Solfen® or NumOcaine® sheep’. provide an anaesthetic effect to reduce the For producers who continue to mules, the sensation of pain at the time of the procedure. ® procedure should be conducted in Tri-Solfen helps control blood loss due to the accordance with the COP – Sheep. A inclusion of adrenaline which constricts blood registered pain relief product should be used, vessels, and contains an antiseptic (cetrimide) and the procedure should be done by an to help prevent infection, and therefore accredited operator, to minimise trauma and promotes healing. to remove the minimal amount of wool- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs bearing skin adjacent to bare skin. such as injectable meloxicam or oral ® The following principles should be followed: meloxicam (Buccalgesic ), work on alleviating the pain associated with inflammation after the Lambs should be mulesed two weeks after procedure, and contribute to an animal’s ability the end of lambing. to return to normal activities. If lambing extends for more than six weeks, It is important to fill out the Mob Mulesing consider having two mulesing/marking Status of the National Wool declaration when sessions. selling wool to reflect that pain relief has been Maintain a high standard of hygiene and used when mulesing. use sharp, clean equipment. Along with improving the welfare outcomes of Do not mules when conditions are ideal animals undergoing painful husbandry for flies. procedures, provision of pain relief contributes to the sustainability of an industry by meeting community and consumer expectations. Table 1 Pain relief products for lamb marking and their Witholding Period (WHP) and Export Slaughter Interval (ESI) Veterinary Meat Export slaughter Product Description & use prescription withholding interval (days) needed period (days) Pain relief following mulesing, tail docking and Tri-Solfen® castration. Post-operative No 90 90 S5 gel spray providing local anaesthetic and antiseptic An ESI has not been established for this Local anaesthetic product. Trade injection for pain relief at NumOcaine® advice should be tail docking and castration S4 Yes 0 sought from the used in conjunction with manufacturer before NumNuts® ring applicator system using this product on animals destined for export. Meloxicam NSAID for alleviation of S4 pain, fever and Available inflammation. Pre- Yes 11 11 under several operative subcutaneous generic injection brands Oral preparation of meloxicam. Alleviation of Buccalgesic® pain and inflammation for Yes 10 10 S4 castration and tail docking. Pre-operative liquid administered orally Lambs must be older than 14 days Multi-modal approach to providing pain relief Painful husbandry procedures, such as mulesing, castration, tail docking, earmarking or ear tagging, may be performed at the same time. In this situation, the best pain relief strategy is to use a ‘multi- modal’ approach which is a combination of a local anaesthetic product (for example Tri-Solfen or NumOcaine®) and a NSAID (for example an injectable meloxicam or Buccalgesic®). Products should be applied according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, before, during, or immediately after the painful procedure. This ‘multi-modal’ strategy relieves immediate pain associated with the procedure as well as longer lasting pain associated with inflammation and healing. A suggested approach to best practice application of registered uses of pain relief products is listed in Table 2. If using an NSAID, use either an injectable meloxicam or oral Buccalegsic® – but not both. Table 2 Application of pain relief products Tail docking Tail Castration Veterinary WHP & Castration Product Action Application Mulesing with docking with prescription ESI with knife knife/hot with rings rings needed knife Short acting Fan spray application to Tri-Solfen® local the wound (effective in 90 days S5 anaesthetic less than 1 min) NSAID Oral with custom Buccalgesic® longer applicator – gel applied 10 days S4 acting inside the cheek analgesic (effective after 10 mins) Meloxicam NSAID S4 Subcutaneous injection longer Available under under skin high on neck 11 days acting several generic (effective after 10 mins) analgesic brands NumOcaine® Ring applicator 0 days used in combined with an conjunction Short acting injector that dispenses *ESI with NumNuts® local local anaesthetic (see ring applicator anaesthetic (NumOcaine®) for pain note) system relief at tail docking and S4 castration Adapted from Australian Wool Innovation Ltd Factsheet: Anaesthetics and Analgesics at Lamb Marking. *Tri-Solfen® relies on an open wound and exposed blood vessels for absorption, and is not effective if using a gas knife, or rings to castrate and tail dock. *An Export Slaughter Interval (ESI) has not been established for NumOcaine®. The manufacturer’s advice should be sought before using this product. Preventing flystrike of mulesing wounds When selecting chemicals to prevent flystrike Diazinon is no longer registered for flock of mulesing wounds, several factors should be treatments and now only registered for the considered. Label withholding periods (WHP) treatment of individual animals. Powder for meat and wool should be checked before dressings should not be used as they may using any product. Wool from treated animals delay healing. should be separated from the main clip to minimise any chemical residue risk. When using products for pain relief and prevention of flystrike on a mulesing wound, Three groups of chemicals are currently DPIRD recommends the use of low volume registered for preventing flystrike of mulesing fly treatments, to prevent excess run off and wounds: insect growth regulators (IGR) dilution of the pain relief product. containing dicyclanil (for example Clik), spinosyn insecticides (for example Extinosad) It is important to ensure that lambs are not and organo-phosphate insecticides (OP).