What is the difference between a castrated ram and an uncastrated one?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Today, some townspeople are beginning to engage in agriculture, in particular cattle breeding. And here they have to deal with hitherto unfamiliar things.

Many only for the first time learn that cattle are castrated. Some even have their tails docked. Naturally, the newly minted farmers have no idea at all about the name of a chiseled goat or a castrated ram. Also, not everyone knows why such operations are needed.

What is the name of a castrated ram?

Somehow the word "dude" has something to do with a pet. In fact, this is not at all the case. And in all dictionaries, a castrated ram is called a wallah or a valukh. Sometimes the name “valushka” is added to this row.

Although sometimes a castrated ram is called"blanched" or "laid out", which is also correct. This is the name of a male who has lost the ability to cover females due to surgery or other veterinary actions. Depriving an animal of this natural ability is called "castration" or "idling". Sometimes the people in this case use the expression "lay out a ram."

Why do males need castration?

On the one hand, it may seem to an uninitiated person that this procedure is harmful, from which there is no benefit to the cattle breeder. Well, really, is it necessary to castrate sheep if the main goal of the farmer is to constantly increase the number of herds?

The answer will be in the affirmative - it is necessary! And the reasons explaining why sheep are castrated are as follows:

1. The meat of unseasoned males (bulls, boars, goats, rams and other animals) acquires a specific flavor after they enter sexual maturity.
2. A castrated ram gains mass faster, accumulates fat better. Moreover, for fattening it requires less strong feed, which, in turn, is much cheaper.
3. Due to emasculation, animals lose interest in fighting among themselves, become more calm, not aggressive towards humans.
4. The owner doesn't have to bother giving the males a room and pasture separate from the females: now the sheep are not threatened with unwanted fertilization.

Why do sheep breeders sometimes resist covering females?

Often one farm contains different animals. A sheep breeder, for example, purchased individualsmore advanced breeds. But he still has young growth from the last plant. Mixing different breeds of animals is not only pointless, but also harmful.

Some females, being early maturing, are ready for mating at a fairly young age. But fertilization ahead of time will undermine the he alth of the animal, its offspring may be weak and unviable.

There is also the danger of covering a sheep with a weak ram. This can also lead to the birth of poor-quality offspring.

To prevent this from happening, the farmer is forced to keep males and females separately. And he also has to allocate pastures for grazing in different places. And this requires the attraction of an additional labor unit, financial investments. Therefore, the easiest way out here is to castrate outbred or simply extra sheep. Indeed, for the normal functioning of the herd for 15 sheep, one full-fledged adult ram will be enough.

What is castration?

Synonyms of this word are called, as mentioned above, valushenie, laying out, idling. The medical name for this procedure is castration.

What is the process itself? The goal of a person is to artificially induce infertility in a male. This can be achieved in several ways.

Bloodless methods of emasculation of sheep

There are two known today. The first is made using a special device called burizzo. It is used for both docking and castration.

Use burizzo to squeeze skin and flesh togetherwith testicles. Due to this action, they are bleeding and drying out. It can be considered positive that it allows you to avoid infection of open wounds, infection with animal tetanus. Of the negatives, the sufficient pain of the procedure and its duration are recognized.

Rubber rings also apply to the bloodless method. This procedure may take 10 to 20 days to complete.

Sometimes sheep breeders use rubber rings for shortened castration, when they tighten only the skin of the scrotum without capturing the testicles. This process is less painful. But the desired result is achieved, since the raised testicles cannot participate in the fertilization of females.

Pulling out males using a scalpel

Veterinarians often act the old fashioned way - they perform an operation on a ram that has reached six months, only after treating the skin before cutting it with alcohol. Few people think about doing anything to relieve the pain of the procedure.

But nevertheless, some people still believe that if animals are under the power of man, serve him, even as food, then he is simply obliged to minimize their suffering as much as possible. Therefore, shortened castration was invented not so long ago.

This procedure differs from the traditional method of operation in that only the scrotum is removed from the male. The ram's testicles themselves remain intact, but are pushed up. Due to this, the male, although he produces testosterone, does not fertilize the sheep.able.

And, finally, everyone knows directly castration, in which the scrotum is cut into the lamb, the testicles are released and removed. As a result of the operation, an open wound is obtained, which can be infected from the outside with dust, dirt, flies and other insects.

A person who decides to go into cattle breeding should know more about his business. And that is why it is so important to be aware of all the innovations that scientists and veterinarians offer sheep breeders.