Castrating animals is a necessity for controlling the herd size. There are specifics that need to be known before you start. Perhaps the most important is when to castrate.
Goats should be castrated between eight and twelve weeks old. You can castrate them younger only if they are going to the butcher. Castrating outside of that range causes long-term health problems. The kind of method used for castration does not depend on the age of the goat.
The different methods of castration all have perks and downfalls, as do the ages you can castrate your goats at. These will be discussed in this article.
Eight To Twelve Weeks
Waiting for eight weeks allows the urinary tract (specifically the urethra, but everything in general) to grow properly and allow the system to properly function before you castrate. Doing this significantly lowers the chances of a goat getting urinary stones. Not to mention that waiting the required amount of time reduces the risk of damage a stone can cause by letting the urethra grow to full size.
Every day you wait past eight weeks increases the chance of an unwanted breeding. Waiting longer than necessary also increases the pain and bleeding experienced by the goat during and after castration. Waiting also increasing the amount of time it will take the goat to recover and fully heal.
Waiting for eight weeks is generally accepted for goats that aren’t headed for the butcher. Goats that will live a full life-span need to have all their urinary tract working properly. Otherwise, their life will have a lot of painful moments where stones or infections are causing problems. There is a second option though.
For goats heading to the butcher, you can castrate as early as one week. The earlier you castrate the easier it will be on the goat. Since goats are sent off to the butcher as early as three months old they don’t need to have a full-grown urinary tract. Doing this is kindness to the goat because then they don’t need to be castrated after their testicles have developed all the nerve endings.
The earlier a goat is castrated the less painful it will be for them. Too early and it’s a problem. Too late and you might have more goats to castrate in 150 days. So you really just have to know what you want for your goat before it’s too late.
Speaking of what you want for your goat, let’s talk about how to castrate.
Types Of Castration
There are three main types of castration. Banding, emasculation, and surgery. A secondary part of castration is docking or the removal of the tail. This is done to prevent the buildup of fecal matter on the tail. This is to be done at the same time as castration.
Surgery
is the fastest way to castrate goats. Doing this also lets the goats heal and get moving much faster than other options. This involves a sharp knife and a previous knowledge of how to do this. You should not attempt this your first time. If you have not castrated an animal (specifically a goat) attempt surgery only under the supervision of someone who has plenty of experience doing this. If you do this wrong it could lead to infection or the demise of a beloved goat.
You take a sharp knife and slice off the tail. Quick and simple. Just let it drain. The bleeding will stop on its own. You can pack it with anti-bacterial if you want. This is unnecessary though.
Push the testicles into the upper half of the scrotum. Then take the knife, slice off the bottom third of the scrotum, push the testicles out, then pull them off. There are a couple of ways to go about this. You can use a knife to cut the cords holding the testicles in place or just pull them off. If the goat is older than 5 weeks using a knife will cause less bleeding.
It is good practice to spray the tail and scrotum cuts with anti-bacterial. This isn’t a necessity though as long as the goat keeps it clean.
The goat will squirm and bleat a little. In about ten minutes or so the bleeding will stop and the goat will up and moving again. Acting as if nothing ever happened.
Emasculation
is a kind of castration that uses a tool called a burdizzo. This is basically a clamp used to crush the spermatic cords. Thus preventing the goat from deploying sperm. To do this you crush the cords one at a time. Take one testicle, pull it down (gently) into the bottom of the scrotum. Take the burdizzo and place the clamp about one-third the way down the testicle. Clampdown all the way and hold it for 20 seconds. Release and move the clamp down about one inch. Apply pressure again for about 20 seconds.
Repeat the process for the other testicle.
The goat will bleat and squirm a little, but it will be up moving again in fifteen minutes or so. It’s really a very easy process for the goats to go through. Not as fast as surgery, but still very speedy.
Doing this ruptures the cords connecting the testicles to the body. This makes it impossible for the sperm to make their way out of the testicles. It also retards blood flow to the area. This eventually (usually noticeable in about one week) causes the testicles to atrophy and shrink. The scrotum will always remain there.
The emasculation process does have a higher failure rate than the other two methods. This is because sometimes the cords aren’t properly crushed. So if you decide to use this method make sure you actually get the cords crushed.
You will still have to cut off the tail.
Banding
is perhaps the most common thing to think about when you hear the words livestock and castration in the same sentence. It is, however, the hardest method on the goats. You use a tool called an elastrator. This is like the reverse of a burdizzo. You place a castrating band on the prongs of the elastrator, squeeze the handle to open them up, place them around the tail and the testicles, then wait. In about two weeks’ time, they will fall off.
During this time the goat won’t move a whole lot. This is very painful and distressing to them so they try to do as little as possible until they fall off. When you do this make sure that you don’t get any teats caught in the band. This only makes a painful situation worse.