Castration in Cattle: Techniques and Animal Welfare Issues

Castration is deemed a necessary practice in U.S. cattle production systems. The procedure is primarily advocated to reduce damage to animals, humans, and facilities by decreasing aggressive male behavior. Castration is also advocated to improve carcass quality. Pointing to European practices, some have argued that castration is painful and would not be a necessary procedure in cattle production if changes were made in management practices to facilitate finishing intact bulls. However, this argument fails to recognize the intensive management and higher animal numbers processed in U.S. cattle production systems. The technique employed and the timing of the procedure may have a substantial effect on both actual and perceived pain. Several techniques have been developed for castration. All of them appear to produce some pain. Although local anesthesia may be advocated to reduce pain associated with castration, it may actually elevate the animal’s stress from increased handling. Less pain has been associated with early castration (younger than 2 months of age) and is, therefore, recommended. Castration or orchiectomy of young bulls is an animal husbandry procedure that has been practiced for centuries. There are written accounts from as early as the sixteenth century on how to perform the procedure. The various indications for castration include prevention of aggressive male behavior, control of unwanted matings, and consumer prejudices against beef from intact male animals. Many techniques have been tried and either adopted or discarded. Increasingly, the humane aspects of typical animal husbandry procedures (e.g., castration, tail docking, dehorning) are being questioned. This article reviews numerous techniques that have been used as well as animal welfare concerns regarding castration. Differences in carcass characteristics and morbidity and mortality associated with castration, although important, are not the focus of this article. CASTRATION TECHNIQUES Many different techniques have been developed for castrating cattle. Kent and colleagues conducted a survey in the United Kingdom and found the emasculatome to be the most popular method of castration, followed closely by surgical CE S66 Vol. 24, No. 9 September 2002