Crutching refers to the removal of wool from around the tail and between the rear legs of a sheep. Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles of animals in the Caprinae family principally sheep, but the hair of certain species It can also refer to removing wool from the heads of sheep (head crutching, also called wigging) or from the bellies of male sheep (ringing).

Motivation

Sheep with heavy fleeces of wool often develop stains or dags on their rear ends from faeces. Feces, faeces, or fæces (see spelling differences) is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the Anus In ewes, urine can also stain the wool. To avoid discomfort to the sheep and damage to the fleece, graziers remove the wool (and any dags) from the sheep. Pastoral farming (also known as grazing in some parts of the world is farming related to Livestock rather than growing crops and other

Urine and watery feces from eating spring grass can also lead to Myiasis (fly-strike), which occurs when flies lay eggs in warm, damp wool and the fly larvae grow and eat into the sheep. Myiasis (ˈmaɪəsɨs or /maɪˈaɪəsɨs/ is an animal or human disease caused by parasitic dipterous fly larvae feeding on the host 's Necrotic True flies are Insects of the Order Diptera ( Greek: di = two and pteron = wing possessing a single pair of In Roman mythology, the larvae or lemures (singular lemur) were the spectres or spirits of the dead they were the malignant version of the Crutching is an effective way to prevent this; in some areas, crutching is carried out at the start of the fly season (which depends on local climatic conditions) and may be needed at intervals of 6-8 weeks in high fly risk conditions.

Rams and wethers may also be rung (crutched) on the belly around the pizzle (penis) to prevent fly-strike there. Pizzle is an old English word for Penis, derived from Low German pesel or Flemish Dutch pezel, diminutive of pees 'sinew' The penis (plural penises, penes

Wigging (removal of wool from the head of sheep) is used to avoid "wool blindness", in which the wool covers the sheep's eyes. It also prevents accumulation of grass seeds in wool around the head as a sheep grazes dry grass. Both these problems are more severe in breeds with heavy wool growth such as Merinos. The Merino is the most economically influential breed of sheep in the world prized for its Wool.

In addition, ewes are generally crutched prior to lambing if they are not recently "offshears", in order to provide the newborn lamb with a cleaner suckling area. As with other Mammals Domestic sheep reproduction occurs sexually.

Procedure

Crutching is generally carried out in shearing sheds, using the same tools as for shearing the entire fleece, as crutching is simply shearing only a portion of the animal. Shearing sheds (or wool sheds are large Sheds located on Sheep stations to accommodate large scale Sheep shearing activities Sheep shearing, shearing or clipping is the process by which the woollen fleece of a Sheep is cut off Blade shears may be used, especially where an individual sheep is particularly dirty, or flystruck. Sheep shearing, shearing or clipping is the process by which the woollen fleece of a Sheep is cut off Myiasis (ˈmaɪəsɨs or /maɪˈaɪəsɨs/ is an animal or human disease caused by parasitic dipterous fly larvae feeding on the host 's Necrotic Generally, whole flocks are treated together. A mechanical shearing handpiece is used, and the crutchers sit the sheep between their legs and shear the required portion of the sheep, leaving the main fleece to continue growing. Sheep shearing, shearing or clipping is the process by which the woollen fleece of a Sheep is cut off There are also many varieties of crutching cradles which allow the sheep to be crutched with less physical strain to the operator.

For small flocks, a grazier might do the work single-handedly. For large flocks and stud sheep, graziers will hire shearers, or use a contractor who provides professional shearing teams to do the required work. The grazier would decide on the extent of crutching: the rear of the sheep is almost always shorn, whereas wool around the face, ears, underside and pizzle may also be removed depending on the circumstances such as the weather, length of fleece, and amount of seed or other impurities present in the fleece and the underlying reason for crutching (preventative of fly-strike, or to improve quality of the fleece). In a large flock environment the grazier would assess the sheep to judge the required crutching method. Super fine wool Merino flocks are often given a light crutch, known as a New England crutch that removes less of the valuable fleece.

When a single or small number of sheep need crutching, graziers will often work in the field using blade shears or portable powered shearing gear instead of driving the sheep into the shearing shed and back.

Related procedures

Docking (removing) sheep's tails has much the same benefits for the sheep as crutching. Docking is used as a term for the intentional removal of part of an animal's Tail or Ears The term Indeed, there is little point to crutching an undocked sheep.

Crutching is different to mulesing where part of the wrinkled skin is removed, although they are closely related in that mulesed sheep require much less crutching. Mulesing is the surgical removal of strips of wool-bearing wrinkle skin from around the breech of a Sheep. It is the excess wool which gets most soiled from urination and feces, and which can be particularly dirty due to green feeding, rapid changes in feed, or from diseases such as internal parasites. Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, and more rarely emiction, is the process of disposing Urine from the Urinary bladder Feces, faeces, or fæces (see spelling differences) is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the Anus Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between Organisms of different Species.

References

• Cottle, D. J. (1991). Australian Sheep and Wool Handbook. Melbourne, Australia: Inkata Press, 20-23. ISBN 0-909605-60-2.

External links

• Australian Government website covering Basic management of pet sheep including crutching
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations website on crutching sheep.