Tail Docking. What's Up?

Lambs with banded tail method of docking

To tail dock or not to tail dock. That is the question I pondered, and have come up with an answer. First of all, did you know that sheep have tails?  Many Americans do not know this because almost every sheep that you see has its tail docked. (Except the flock of neglected sheep down the street from us.)  Many Europeans do not dock tails, so what's the big deal?  Shouldn't we keep it natural and let the lambs keep their tail?  They look so cute having a tail bobbing behind them as they bounce through the pasture. Shouldn't  they be kept "natural?" 
Sheep today are nothing like their wild predecessors. They have been domesticated for thousands of years and rely on the shepherd to take care of them for their well being.  The "natural" thing to do is to take good care of them. And, lambs are not so cute when dung gets attached them.
In Australia, there is a slang word for an unfashionable person who is socially inept (but amusing.) This word is dag. A dag is literally a "dung-caked lock of wool from the hind quarters of a sheep." This is not a pretty sight! Nor is it healthy for a lamb who has a tail. 
With in the first few weeks of its life, a lamb may have droppings that are anything but dry.  The dung attaches itself to the tail.  Flies will come and lay eggs in the dung. Maggots will hatch out and eat the dung. After they have eaten the dung, they will go after the lamb.  This is very uncomfortable for the poor lamb, and I won't go into what can happen after that. 
So, I have docked the first two lambs tails using the band method because it is the equipment that came with the flock, and appears to be what most Sonoma County sheep farmers use. Castrating the ram lamb is another issue.  I think I was supposed to do that no later than three days old, and I didn't do it. I didn't recall that from all my reading, and I don't remember anyone explaining the necessity to castrate to me. Uh-oh. Hope we don't have any problems because of  an uncastrated ram lamb on The Derby Farm.