Aftercare
• Provide a clean, dry environment for calves after castration.
• Inspect the cattle closely for two weeks after castration. With latex bands, the scrotum should drop off within seven weeks after castration.
• Look for swelling, signs of infection, tetanus and abnormal gait.
• Treat wounds as needed.
• Get professional help when calves show swelling, severe pain or infection.
Welfare Significance
1 Physical castration causes pain and side effects.
2 Young calves recover quicker and have fewer complications than older calves.
3 Acute pain caused by Burdizzo methods is less than that caused by surgical, rubber-ring or latex-band castration.
4 There is no evidence to show young calves experience less pain than older calves.
5 Local anaesthesia eliminates acute pain caused by rubber-ring or latex-band castration.
6 Local anaesthesia combined with a systemic analgesic, such as the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ketoprofen, eliminates pain caused by Burdizzo or surgical castration.
7 Ketoprofen alone may not eliminate pain-induced behaviour seen during the castration process.
8 Castration of older males without anaesthesia is deemed inhumane and unethical.
9 Use of pain relief is an additional cost for producers. Pain relief may be limited by the availability of drugs for farmers to use and the scarcity of veterinarians in farm animal practice.
10 In Ontario, auxiliaries employed by veterinarians may administer local nerve blocks and castrate cattle less than two months of age while under immediate, direct or indirect supervision of a veterinarian. They may castrate cattle greater than two months of age when under immediate or direct supervision.
Anaesthesia and Pain Relief
Choices in anaethesia and pain relief include:
• short-acting, local anaesthetic (e.g. lidocaine) with an effect for about 45–90 minutes
- an epidural injection designed to block pain in the hind quarters and testicular region
- local injections into the testicles, incision site or spermatic cord
• alpha-2 agonist (xylazine) given alone or in conjunction with a local anaesthetic will provide analgesia for a few hours
• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as ketoprofen used alone, with local anaesthetics or with xylazine
