An investigation into the efficacy of the Te Pari Patesco knife in providing a bare tip and the relationship between tail length and dag score in unmulesed Merino lambs

This study investigated dag accumulation between marking time and first shearing and wool cover of the tip of the tail in a total of 842 ewes and wethers, tailed either at the second or third joint using a standard gas knife or at the third joint using the Te Pari Patesco gas knife. Four hundred of the ewes had further measurements taken in 2011. The Te Pari-treated animals had significantly (P < 0.05) less wool on the tail tip than lambs treated with a standard gas knife. There were no significant differences in dag score between treatment groups in 2010; however, there were significantly (P < 0.05) less dags on animals in the Te Pari-treated group in 2011. This effect needs to be further investigated in a range of sheep genotypes, locations and seasons.