Cattle Castration

This week we have been weaning some calves. When we wean our calves we also perform castrations on the little bull calves. We are a beef cattle operation so we primarily raise calves for beef production. To get the best beef it is best to castrate the calves early so they can gain the most weight.

Every weaning we pick out a few bulls that look really good for breeding and we leave those calves intact and sell them for breeding purposes. The remaining male calves are castrated to be fed out for beef production.

There are a few different methods that can be used for castration. Many people use banding. This is where you place a tight rubber band above the testicles and allow them to slowly cut off circulation to the testicles which causes them to become ischemic and die. Another method is actually removing the testes. There are a couple different methods for this. Some ranchers will simply take a knife or blade and cut the testicles and scrotum off with one quick cut. This ideally should be done very early in life to from having a lot of bleeding.

The method we use actually involves removing the testicles but instead of cutting them off with the scrotum we strip them. First, we remove the lower third of the scrotum and then grab each testicle and pull them down essentially stripping the spermatic cord that connects the testicles to the body. This decreases the amount of bleeding and complications. It essentially removes the testicles quickly with minimal bleeding and has a faster healing time than with banding.

This is how we have been castrating for the past seven or so years with much success!