Review: castration – animal welfare considerations

Figures & data

Table 1. Legislation concerning the use of anaesthesia for castration in calves.

Country	Methods allowed	Anaesthesia required	Reference
Ireland	Surgical, Burdizzo, rubber ring/band	Surgical or Burdizzo: over 6 months of age Rubber ring/band: over 7 days of age	DAFM (S.I. No. 107, 2014) (Animal Health and Welfare Act 2014).
United Kingdom	Surgical, Burdizzo, rubber ring/band	Rubber ring/band: over 7 days of age Other methods: over 2 months of age	(DEFRA 2013)
Germany	Not specified^a	All methods: over 4 weeks of age	(Daanje 2013)
Belgium	Surgical, Haemostatic clamp	At any age	(Daanje 2013)
Switzerland	Surgical, Burdizzo^a	At any age	(The Swiss Federal Council 2008)
Australia	Surgical, Burdizzo, rubber ring/band	All methods: over 6 months of age	(Animal Health Australia 2016)
New Zealand	Surgical, Burdizzo, rubber ring/band	Band: at any age Other methods: over 6 months of age	(Reddy 2018)
Canada	Surgical, Burdizzo, rubber ring/band	All methods: Beef: over 6 months of age; Dairy: at any age	(National Farm Animal Care Council, 2013)

^a Rubber ring/band are not allowed.

Table 2. Summary of the scientific literature examining the effect of age at castration (cx) on welfare outcomes.

Author	Population	Sedative/Anaesthetic/ Analgesic	Castration Methods	Age range (treatments)	Comparison group	Outcome parameter	Percent Change (%)	Significance (P value)
Ting et al. (2005)	Holstein-Friesian	None	Burdizzo Control (sham)	1.5 mo cx (n = 10/trt)	5.5 mo castrated calves (n = 10)	Plasma cortisol (Cmax) AUC (–3 h) AUC (3–12 h)	−54.05 −46.55 −10.18	<0.05 <0.05 NS
						Haptoglobin (day 3)	−75.64	<0.05
						Fibrinogen (day 3)	−29.66	<0.05
						WBC (day 1)^a WBC (day 2)	+38.54	<0.05
						Growth rate (day −7–35)	−52.98	NS
				2.5 mo cx		Plasma cortisol (Cmax) AUC (0–3 h) AUC (3–12 h)	−28.82 −26.72 +1.85	<0.05 NS NS
						Haptoglobin (day 3)	−45.72	<0.05
						Fibrinogen (day 3)	−19.49	<0.05
						WBC (day 1) WBC (day 2)	+25.68	<0.05
						Growth rate (day −7 to 35)	−31.78	NS
				3.5 mo cx		Plasma cortisol (Cmax) AUC (0–3 h) AUC (3–12 h)	−26.12 −23.27 +15.74	<0.05 NS NS
						Haptoglobin (day 3)	−23.93	NS
						Fibrinogen (day 3)	−16.95	<0.05
						WBC (day 1) WBC (day 2)	+20.00	<0.05
				4.5 mo cx		Plasma cortisol (Cmax) AUC (0–3 h) AUC (3–12 h)	−25.22 −34.48 +22.22	<0.05 <0.05 NS
						Haptoglobin (day 3)	−16.66	NS
						Fibrinogen (day 3)	−8.47	NS
						WBC (day 1) WBC (day 2)	+17.60	<0.05
						Growth rate (day −7–35)	−10.59	NS
Ting et al. (2005)	Holstein-Friesian	None	Burdizzo Control (sham)	5.5 mo sham	5.5 mo castrated calves (n = 10)	Plasma cortisol (Cmax) AUC (0–3 h) AUC (3–12 h)	−77.47 −69.83 −33.33	<0.05 <0.05 NS
						Haptoglobin (day 3)	−82.90	<0.05
						Fibrinogen (day 3)	−43.22	<0.05
						WBC (day 1) WBC (day 2)	−3.6	NS
						Growth rate (day −7–35)	−8.00	NS
Ting et al. (2010)	Holstein-Friesian	None	Burdizzo Control (sham)	1.5 mo cx (n = 10/trt)	Each group baseline (−72 h)	Skin Temperature 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+30.14 +19.62 +15.79	<0.05 <0.05 <0.05
						Thermal Nociception Threshold (latency to leg withdrawal) 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+15.84 +20.79 +36.63	NS NS NS
				2.5 mo cx		Skin Temperature 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+7.39 −1.05 0	<0.05 NS NS
						Thermal Nociception Threshold (latency to leg withdrawal) 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+47.44 +17.95 +43.59	NS NS NS
Ting et al. (2010)	Holstein-Friesian	None	Burdizzo Control (sham)	3.5 mo cx	Each group baseline (−72 h)	Skin Temperature 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+1.32 −3.97 −11.92	NS NS <0.05
						Thermal Nociception Threshold (latency to leg withdrawal) 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+47.89 +76.06 +28.17	NS NS NS
				4.5 mo cx		Skin Temperature 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+21.08 −4.15 −3.51	NS NS NS
						Thermal Nociception Threshold (latency to leg withdrawal) 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+41.89 +56.76 +55.41	NS NS NS
				5.5 mo cx		Skin Temperature 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+1.60 −4.79 −7.09	NS P < 0.05 P < 0.05
						Thermal Nociception Threshold (latency to leg withdrawal) 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+9.52 +27.38 +46.43	NS NS NS
Ting et al. (2010)	Holstein-Friesian	None	Burdizzo Control (sham)	5.5 mo sham	Each group baseline (−72 h)	Skin Temperature 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+1.60 −1.88 +0.63	NS NS NS
						Thermal Nociception Threshold (latency to leg withdrawal) 12 h post castration 24 h post castration 48 h post castration	+37.50 +10.94 +23.44	NS NS NS
Norring et al. (2017)	Angus-Hereford cross-bred bull calves	Lignocaine 3% ring block (all calves)	Surgical	2.4 mo (n = 15)	Surgical castrated 3 d old (n = 16)	ADG (1–77 d post castration)	−57.14	P < 0.05
						Skin temperature (1–77 d post castration)	+2.00	P < 0.05
						Time to resolve swelling	−60.00	P < 0.05
						Sensitivity to wound palpation (1–77 d post castration)	+48.08	P < 0.05

Abbreviations: Trt treatment; AUC, area under the curve; WBC, white blood cells; ADG, average daily gain in body weight.

^a WBC percent changes were calculated between day 1 and day 2 of the same treatment group.

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