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Short scrotum castration
Explore the advantages and disadvantages of short scrotum castration, including the impact on productivity and profitability.
Advantages of short scrotum castration:
- Inexpensive
- Can be performed alongside other health checks
- Pain is less severe than other methods
- Increased daily liveweight gain and feed efficiency compared with other castration methods
Disadvantages of short scrotum castration:
- No visual indication of effectiveness – risk of incomplete castration
- Must be carried out within the first seven days of being born
- Advised not to be done within the first 24 hours of life
- Risk of mismothering and reduced suckling
Table 1. The impact of short scrotum castration compared with leaving rams entire
| Measure | Impact |
|---|---|
| Welfare (relative to entire lambs) | Negative |
| Productivity | Positive* |
| Profitability (added value) | Positive |
| Environmental sustainability: GHG, air and climate, biodiversity | Negative |
*Productivity, e.g. growth rates superior to most other castration techniques
Table 2. Considerations for short scrotum castration
| Implementation | Rating |
|---|---|
| Cost | £ |
| Speed | Fast |
| Production system | Lambs are handled ≤7 days of age |
£ No new equipment or time constraints over and above existing business-as-usual running costs
What is short scrotum castration?
This method involves pushing the testicles into the inguinal canal (abdominal cavity) and placing a thick rubber ring around the scrotum.
The rubber ring has a small internal circumference and applies enough pressure to cut off the blood supply. This causes the empty scrotum to wither away and drop off. The process takes 2–4 weeks.
Without a scrotum, rams cannot regulate the temperature of their testicles, which will be maintained at body temperature – this prevents the production of viable sperm.
Where can this practice work?
Although short scrotum castration is legal in the UK, it is not widely used.
According to the British Veterinary Association, short scrotum castration has no distinct advantage over standard rubber ring castration, and it may even be less effective as there is no easy way to ensure the ram is infertile.
To check whether castration has been effective, you could carry out a test mating when the ram reaches sexual maturity.
To avoid the risk of unwanted pregnancies, you would need to keep the rams and ewes separate until you could confirm the ram is infertile.
You can only use the short scrotum castration method within the first seven days of life. This makes it impractical for many systems, e.g. hill farms where lambs from outdoor lambing flocks are typically gathered for castration above this age.
How much does short scrotum castration cost?
This practice is inexpensive, requiring suitable castration pliers to apply the rubber rings and a supply of rubber rings.
Castration pliers cost £5–15 and rubber rings cost 1–2p per ring.
As with all methods, labour is needed to castrate the lambs, although this is typically carried out quickly along with other health checks.
Short scrotum castration is simple to carry out, with no specialist training required.
How can short scrotum castration be done well?
Short scrotum castration should not done within the first 24 hours of a lamb’s life as it can result in mismothering.
The discomfort may also discourage lambs from suckling at a critical time, meaning they do not consume enough colostrum.
For this method to be effective, you must apply the ring correctly; failure to do so could result in rams remaining fertile.
What is the impact on animal welfare?
Lambs castrated using the short scrotum method should not experience significant pain because the testicles and their nerves are left intact.
This means that the negative effects seen as a result of rubber ring castration, e.g. mismothering, are not as noticeable.
Lambs castrated by the short scrotum method display fewer pain-related behaviours than those castrated using the rubber ring method.
However, they show more pain-related behaviours than lambs castrated using the clamp or combined methods.
What is the impact on productivity?
Lambs castrated using the short scrotum method generally produce a higher-grade carcase – similar to that of entire ram lambs – than those castrated using other techniques.
Daily liveweight gain, feed efficiency and weaning weights are also usually higher for lambs castrated via this method. This is because the male hormones (testosterone and androgen) can still be secreted.
As with clamp castration, there is a risk that ram lambs could be left with functioning sexual organs, which could result in unwanted pregnancies and/or the need to castrate lambs at an older age.
What is the impact on profitability?
There is limited evidence on the profitability of short scrotum castration.
However, as daily liveweight gain, feed efficiency and weaning weights are usually higher from lambs castrated using this method, producing a higher-grade carcase, this technique may be more profitable than others.
If you slaughter lambs before they reach puberty, the meat is unlikely to be at risk of ram taint. However, there have not been any studies looking specifically at meat quality and taste from lambs castrated using this method.
What is the impact on environmental sustainability?
Short scrotum castration could have positive impacts on environmental sustainability due to the improved feed efficiency and higher daily liveweight gains compared with other castration methods.
The reduced risk of mismothering is also likely to improve survival rates, further strengthening the environmental sustainability.
However, the use of single-use rubber rings should be considered.
The environmental impact of rubber is complex and depends on many factors, such as the country of production, manufacturing method and whether it is natural or synthetic.
What are the legal implications of short scrotum castration?
The Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007 only permit rubber ring castration on lambs aged seven days or less; the law does not distinguish between this method and conventional rubber ring castration.
The Defra Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Livestock: Sheep also states: “Castration should not be performed on lambs until the ewe/lamb bond has become established.”
Anyone over the age of 18 can carry out rubber ring castration, as long as they fulfil any legal requirements, such as that in the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which states that any operative is “reasonably competent and humane”.
Since a wound is created, Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 applies – you may not transport castrated males until any wounds produced by the procedure have fully healed.
It also states that sexually mature male and female animals may not be transported together, and heavily pregnant or recently lambed ewes are not permitted to be transported – you should bear this in mind, as failure to carry out this method correctly could result in rams remaining fertile.
Given the young age and narrow window for using this method, along with the legal requirements, short scrotum castration may not be suitable for some farms.
How do farm assurance standards manage short scrotum castration?
No farm assurance scheme specifically mentions restrictions for this method.
RSPCA Assured is the only scheme with a prescriptive list of (three) permitted castration techniques – short scrotum castration is not one of these.
Red Tractor standards require any method other than rubber ring and clamp castration to be carried out by a licenced vet.
Red Tractor standards also require you to record planned castrations in your health plan, reviewed by your vet.
The Soil Association standards require the use of pain relief with all castration methods.
Due to the possibility of rams remaining fertile, some transport regulations could also apply, as outlined above. In addition, Red Tractor does not permit sexually mature entire males to be transported with other males they are unfamiliar with, and the Soil Association suggests not transporting any ewes over three months in-lamb.
These restrictions could impact the logistics for some producers at the end of the finishing period.
How strong is the evidence for short scrotum castration?
There are few studies that explore the use and effects of short scrotum castration and there is a lack of literature assessing chronic pain in lambs castrated with this method.
Of those studies that have been carried out, most show a welfare benefit over other methods. However, where castration is not complete and rams remain fertile, the practice undermines any welfare advantages.
How the three Rs can be applied
We have reviewed leaving ram lambs entire and various castration methods in terms of how they can be reduced, refined or replaced (the three Rs) and the impacts of doing so.
Strategies for reduction: There is scope to reduce the number of lambs castrated using the short scrotum method by ensuring you have the right management tools and infrastructure to allow ram lambs to be kept entire.
Strategies for refinement: You could refine short scrotum castration by administering pre-castration local anaesthetic and pain relief, as well as post-castration pain relief.
Strategies for replacement: You could replace short scrotum castration with leaving male lambs entire.
The information on this page is taken from an AHDB-commissioned report.