Castration of lambs: a welfare comparison of different castration techniques in lambs over 10 weeks of age

Melches, Susanne; Mellema, Sibylle C; Doherr, Marcus G; Wechsler, Beat; Steiner, Adrian (2007). Castration of lambs: a welfare comparison of different castration techniques in lambs over 10 weeks of age. Veterinary journal, 173(3), pp. 554-63. Amsterdam: Elsevier 10.1016/j.tvjl.2006.01.006

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Seventy male lambs over 10 weeks of age were castrated using Burdizzo, rubber rings, or surgery to assess the acute and long-term effects of castration. All castrations were performed under local anaesthesia. The surgically castrated lambs were additionally sedated with xylazine and the sedation reversed with tolazoline. The frequency of abnormal postures and immediate behavioural responses indicated that surgically castrated lambs were most distressed; the lambs castrated using Burdizzo and rubber rings were not dissimilar to those of the control group. Between 1.5 and 9h after castration, signs of pain and distress were at a lower level in lambs anaesthetised with bupivacaine compared with those treated with lidocaine. Due to the markedly faster wound healing, Burdizzo castration seemed to be preferable (fewer signs of long-term pain) when compared to the rubber ring technique. It was concluded that local anaesthesia with bupivacaine, followed by the Burdizzo method is the preferable technique for the castration of lambs older than 10 weeks of age.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (DKV) > Clinic for Ruminants 05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (DKV) > DVK - Clinical Research [discontinued] 05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH) > Experimental Clinical Research
UniBE Contributor:	Melches, Susanne, Mellema, Sibylle, Doherr, Marcus, Steiner, Adrian
ISSN:	1090-0233
Publisher:	Elsevier
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:45
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:14
Publisher DOI:	10.1016/j.tvjl.2006.01.006
PubMed ID:	16527503
Web of Science ID:	000246965000017
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/18613 (FactScience: 814)