CASTRATING CALVES AND LAMBS
CASTRATING CALVES AND LAMBS
By: Edward A. Leviness
Area Livestock Specialist 1(Retired) Cooperative Extension College of Agriculture The University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 85721
Castration [emasculation], stated simply, is the unsexing of a male animal. The practice of castrating males, in animal species used for food production purposes, is universally practiced and is probably one of the oldest surgical operations known to man.
The purpose of castration is not only to prevent reproduction but to improve the fattening and meat production capability and to make the animal more docile and easy to handle. In farm animals, other than horses, the job of castration usually involves simple surgery wherein the testicles (male reproductive glands that produce male reproductive cells and a hormone) are removed. H