The Cutting Edge Veterinary Podcast

STUDENT: Kyle Mitchell and Vladimir Tadic

FACULTY MENTOR: Dr. Jennifer Pearson

Our CE topic focuses on bovine castration and best practices that can be implemented at various production ages to minimize pain and improve welfare. Developing best practices for 4 relevant production age categories will help fellow veterinarians convey concise recommendations when educating producers. The literature supports that the younger the animal is castrated, the better. Castrating newborn calves limits the pain perceived by the animal, allowing them more time to recover from the procedure. At branding, calves range in age from 2-4 months. This age range requires multiple castration techniques such as banding for younger animals and surgical castration for older animals. For yearlings and weanlings, proper castration protocols are important to ensure high standards of animal welfare as complications are more common in older animals. Pain mitigation practices such as local anesthesia of the spermatic cord or testes and use of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug are recommended for all ages and methods of castration. The Beef Codes of Practice require pain mitigation in animals >6 months old. Veterinarians should work closely with producers to provide evidence-based practices and protocols to align with their operational goals as there are a multitude of factors that can impact calf welfare during castration.