Animal Health & Welfare

Studies led by the University of Edinburgh have explored the differences between the various castration methods in use in the UK in terms of the acute and chronic pain caused to the animal. Whilst acute pain may be severe at the time of the castration itself, it is likely to be the resulting chronic pain that most affects long term animal welfare.

The methods of castration investigated are all currently used legally in the UK.  They were:

• the use of a rubber ring
• surgery
• the use of a Burdizzo alone 
• the use of a Burdizzo in conjunction with a rubber ring

All castration methods cause acute pain (to varying degrees), which can be controlled to some extent with the use of local anaesthetic. However, the studies showed that both surgical and Burdizzo (alone) methods appeared to give rise to less chronic pain than either the rubber ring or the combined rubber ring and Burdizzo method.

This suggests that surgery, or using a Burdizzo alone could offer better castration methods in terms of long term animal welfare. Since there is a greater risk of infection when using surgical castration and the technique requires a greater amount of skill, the use of Burdizzo clamps may be the most feasible of these two options for most producers. 

Further information on these studies can be found in the references and publications section.