- Thread starter
- #11
trampledbygeese
Loving the herd life
That's really sad @Ruus , hope he perks up soon.
Out of curiosity, what method of surgery did you use? Any drugs with that?
I think there are drawbacks with all methods of castration, we are drastically altering the physiology of the animal, not just by removing the balls, but also the long lasting hormonal change.
Originally I thought for my flock that I would castrate any male not likely to be breeding stock, but now I'm thinking of just separating the males into the bachelor flock at younger age and only castrating the ones that might be kept for fibre boys.
My first experience with surgical castration was completely horrid. We didn't know it, but the fella had a hernia in the sack, so that when the balls came out, the guts tumbled out after. Very upsetting on it's own, but more so because this was earmarked to be a long lived fibre boy (a pet basically) and was raised accordingly.
Thankfully we hadn't given it any shots before the operation and we were able to harvest the meat. We did take him to a vet to see what could be done, but the operation started at 3 grand with less than 10% chance of success. That vet's bill is always triple the estimated price, and with virtually no chance of success. We were so sad, we thought to euthanize him, but when we found out the chemicals they use meant the body has to be disposed of as hazardous material... I was shocked. Because it is so toxic to euthanize him, we couldn't even take him home to bury him. My poor little guy going to poison the earth because I'm too cowardly to do the dead myself? No chance.
With many tears, I harvested the meat, bones, hide and horns... everything else got cooked up and fed to the chickens who were joyful for the treat. It was really tough but I'm glad I did it. In a way it was honouring his life to make certain that he didn't go to waste, that his life was used to nourish us... it's hard to describe, but it's the closest I've ever had to a spiritual experience.
But back to castration. That was my first firsthand experience, and I swore off surgical castration... but the more I learn about it and what I've seen of different styles, I think I'll go back to the slit and pull method. Sure it costs more, but for me, it's very quick to find out if something goes wrong.
With the elasticator, you can grow tetanus and other problems while the sack is dying, so you either need to vaccine or run the risk. Sure, it's a small risk, but if the animal does die of it, then the meat isn't going to be any use. I think that's the most important thing for me - if my animal has to die, we will honour it's life by using every part of it.
But that's just my experience and my feelings that influence my choice to stick with surgical method. I can see a lot of benefits to the elasticator too. I might use it in the future if I can't get the castrator to come out... I don't have steady enough hands to cut into a live animal.
Out of curiosity, what method of surgery did you use? Any drugs with that?
I think there are drawbacks with all methods of castration, we are drastically altering the physiology of the animal, not just by removing the balls, but also the long lasting hormonal change.
Originally I thought for my flock that I would castrate any male not likely to be breeding stock, but now I'm thinking of just separating the males into the bachelor flock at younger age and only castrating the ones that might be kept for fibre boys.
My first experience with surgical castration was completely horrid. We didn't know it, but the fella had a hernia in the sack, so that when the balls came out, the guts tumbled out after. Very upsetting on it's own, but more so because this was earmarked to be a long lived fibre boy (a pet basically) and was raised accordingly.
Thankfully we hadn't given it any shots before the operation and we were able to harvest the meat. We did take him to a vet to see what could be done, but the operation started at 3 grand with less than 10% chance of success. That vet's bill is always triple the estimated price, and with virtually no chance of success. We were so sad, we thought to euthanize him, but when we found out the chemicals they use meant the body has to be disposed of as hazardous material... I was shocked. Because it is so toxic to euthanize him, we couldn't even take him home to bury him. My poor little guy going to poison the earth because I'm too cowardly to do the dead myself? No chance.
With many tears, I harvested the meat, bones, hide and horns... everything else got cooked up and fed to the chickens who were joyful for the treat. It was really tough but I'm glad I did it. In a way it was honouring his life to make certain that he didn't go to waste, that his life was used to nourish us... it's hard to describe, but it's the closest I've ever had to a spiritual experience.
But back to castration. That was my first firsthand experience, and I swore off surgical castration... but the more I learn about it and what I've seen of different styles, I think I'll go back to the slit and pull method. Sure it costs more, but for me, it's very quick to find out if something goes wrong.
With the elasticator, you can grow tetanus and other problems while the sack is dying, so you either need to vaccine or run the risk. Sure, it's a small risk, but if the animal does die of it, then the meat isn't going to be any use. I think that's the most important thing for me - if my animal has to die, we will honour it's life by using every part of it.
But that's just my experience and my feelings that influence my choice to stick with surgical method. I can see a lot of benefits to the elasticator too. I might use it in the future if I can't get the castrator to come out... I don't have steady enough hands to cut into a live animal.
