who else is in the “didn’t realize sheep have long tails until i was like 20″ club
Undocked unrestrained
The reason most farmers dock (cut off) the tails is to prevent fly strike, an often lethal infection of fly larvae in the rear of the sheep. Without a (VERY FLUFFY) tail for fecal matter to accumulate on, fly strike is almost completely eliminated!
there is a wide variety of similar treatments for farm animals that are entirely for the animals well being
pigs get their tail curled and tusks removed as babies so they dont accidentally nip each other while playing or stab each other just walking around- even a small tail nip might be fatal once the other pigs react to the scent of blood
goats/cows often have their horns removed as babies as well both for obvious reasons to prevent stabbings but also to prevent them from growing in weird that can cause pain and infection for the animal
chickens and other poultry, especially pet ones or hobby farms, might have their flight feathers clipped to prevent them from flying over fences, where their life expectancy is nill outside the farm/owners enclosure
Very good and valid points but please tell me what you mean by “might be fatal once the other pigs react to the scent of blood” before I lose my marbles
Pigs are omnivores and cannibals. Fun fact if you ever have need to dispose of a body, tossing it in a pigpen will get rid of it real fast.
There’s a reason why everyone went into a full blown panic when Dorothy fell into the pigpen in the Wizard of Oz. Pigs are vicious.
I started thinking “imagine if some advanced alien race scooped up humans, removed some body part, and suddenly we lived longer” and then I remembered the appendix.
Wait… the curly pigtail isn’t a natural thing?!
I read somewhere that the reason pigs are against many religions to eat is because pigs would often dig up graves and start eating peoples corpses so by eating pork you would likely be eating human flesh to a degree