The EZE Bloodless Castrator As Alternative
To surgical Castration of Feeder-Weight Ram Lambs

S.H. Umberger and K.D. Pelzer
Results and Discussion

Lamb ADG for the 18 day period following treatment was greater (P>. 01) for the EZE Lambs, (Table 1). This can be attributed primarily to the smaller proportion of lambs exhibiting a growth check by day 18 following Castration. Fifteen days after Castration, a lamb in the SC, (surgical Castration), treatment died from excessive blood loss due to hemorrhage. This was unexpected, because all of the SC lambs had been individually inspected 4 days after Castration and appeared to be healing well. Most lambs in the EZE treatment exhibited noticeable discomfort after placement of the band on the scrotum. Lambs in both treatment groups exhibited a stiff gait in their rear legs for approximately 10 days following Castration. No lambs were observed to be off feed during the study.

Because of the small scrotal size associated with lighter-weight lambs, it was only practical to use the EZE Bloodless Castrator on lambs weighing over 60 lb. The heaviest lambs at the time of castration weighed 100 and 105 for the SC and EZE treatments, respectively. When lambs exhibited a growth check in either treatment, it occurred with the heavier lambs. The range in initial lamb weight was from 42 to 105 lb. Of lambs weighing 80 LB or more at the time of castration, a growth check remained at 18 days in 5 out of 14 and 1 out of 15 lambs for the SC and EZE treatments, respectively.

SUMMARY

Lambs castrated with the EZE Bloodless Castrator exhibited greater ADG and fewer days of growth check up through 18 days after Castration. Relative to labor requirements, it was necessary to work the EZE lambs an additional time to remove the scrotum four days after banding. However, during fly season, it would still be necessary to work lambs castrated surgically a second time to prevent fly strike. Lambs castrated with bands are more susceptible to tetanus. Therefore, all banded lambs should receive 200 lbs. 300 units of tetanus antitoxin at the time of banding unless they were previously vaccinated with Tetanus Toxoid.

Table 2. Ram lamb performance following Castration.

•A growth check was considered to have occurred when post-Castration lamb weight was less than pre-Castration lamb weight. •() Percentage of lambs exhibiting a growth check. •bc Values in the same column with different superscripts differ (P<. 01).