Elastration (a portmanteau of "elastic" and "castration") is a bloodless method of male

castration Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharma ...

and docking commonly used for

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

. Elastration is simply banding the body part (

scrotum The scrotum or scrotal sac is an anatomical male reproductive structure located at the base of the penis that consists of a suspended dual-chambered sac of skin and smooth muscle. It is present in most terrestrial male mammals. The scrotum co ...

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...

) until it drops off. This method is favored for its simplicity, low cost, and minimal training requirements.

Castration

Elastration is the most common method used to castrate

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

and

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s, but is also common in

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

Procedure

Elastration involves restraining the animal, without the need for anesthesia or sedation (unlike most other castration methods), in a position that provides access to the genitals. Special ''elastrator pliers'' are then used to place a tight

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

(rubber) ''elastrator ring'' gently around the base of the

. This cuts the blood supply to the scrotum and testicles, which will totally decay and slough off within a few weeks. Care must be taken during the procedure to ensure that both testicles are fully descended and properly located inside the scrotum, and that the animal's nipples are not included within the ring. Elastration is normally limited to castrations done during the first few weeks of life, and it cannot be used for species where the scrotum does not have a narrow base, such as

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

s or

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s. It is commonly recommended to not use this method on goats until they are 8 weeks or older. This is due to possible complications that could occur later in life like urinary calculi. Goats that are banded during the first month of age are most at risk.

Possible complications

The country of Lithuania has banned the practice due to their belief that the procedure is inhumane. There is some evidence that elastration is more painful if carried out on older animals, although much of the immediate pain of application can be prevented by injection of local anaesthesia into the scrotal neck and testicles. Practitioners usually try to elastrate as soon as possible, once the testicles have descended, to reduce the amount of dead tissue, infection, and accompanying complications. However, with some animals such as goats, castrating too early increases the frequency of

kidney stone Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...

s and urinary problems due to reduced size of the

urethra The urethra (from Greek οὐρήθρα – ''ourḗthrā'') is a tube that connects the urinary bladder to the urinary meatus for the removal of urine from the body of both females and males. In human females and other primates, the urethra c ...

, so elastration may be postponed. If bull calves are castrated within the first one or two days the testes may sometimes be small and soft enough to be drawn up through the ring, and they continue to develop above the scrotum – surgical castration then becomes necessary. Improper use of banding on cats can result in death and charges of cruelty.Three from Wisconsin Dells charged in bungled kitten castratio

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Docking

The same tool and rings are also used to Docking (animal), dock the tails of many breeds of sheep, to prevent dung building up on the tails (which can lead to fly strike). This is usually done at the same time as castration of the ram lambs. It is also called sheep marking in Australia.

References

{{reflist Animal equipment Theriogenology Veterinary castration

Castration

Procedure

Possible complications

Docking

See also

References