In the spirit of what I've been doing recently, I'll talk about the best way to castrate your baby goats & sheep. I class these two together because the process is the same. It's different for pigs and cattle, so I'll talk about those later. And yes I have experience with all, including chickens (to make capons). For ease of explanation, I'll stick to goats for now, just know that everything here can be used identically for sheep.
The very first thing you'll want to do is make sure your baby(ies) are actually boys or bucklings (rams). Sounds simple, right? In fact it really is. When your baby is born you can either lift the tail or feel between the legs for the scrotum. Once you have your boy identified, next thing you will want to do is make sure he has both testicles descended. Palpate the scrotum between your thumb and other fingers and feel for two semi-elongated firm testicles. If they are both present, you are good to proceed. The absence of one or both is a uni- or bi-lateral cryptochid and should never be kept for breeding under any circumstances! You'll want to send that one out of the herd altogether as they can rarely be successfully castrated without veterinary intervention. Sometimes waiting a little while to see if they will drop is okay, but plan to send him along if they don't after a few weeks.
Next you'll need to gather your supplies together. I recommend the following:
1. Scalpel, new disposable or make sure to have new blades if you have a re-usable handle, if you are going to be doing a lot of boys, you'll want to change the blade after every 10 or so as it does tend to get dull after awhile
2. Chlorhexadine (also called Nolvasan) is a disinfectant that you mix with water. The water should be a light to medium blue. You can put this in a spray bottle, it's used to disinfect the area you'll be working on the animal.
3. Alcohol and a small bowl/jar, this is used to put the scalpel in between babies to keep it completely clean
4. Paper towels
5. Scarlet oil in a spray bottle to spray on and around the affected area.
6. Notepad and pen/pencil to keep track of the babies that have been done.
7. Helper, someone to wrangle the babies and hold them for castrating.
8. Chair for the helper to sit and hold the babies.
9. Box or container for the discarded 'parts'
10. Hand sanitizer, for you to sanitize your hands in between babies. If it's warm enough a bucket of water, soap, and a clean towel work well also.
11. A clean stall or jug with fresh bedding for the new little wethers to go into after the procedure so you can watch them awhile for signs of shock.
12. Penicillin is optional, but you certainly can dose them with a quick shot if you are feeling nervous or if the babies will be in an unusually filthy area after they are done. If your goats are in a clean pasture, this is not absolutely necessary
Never castrate any baby older than a few weeks to a month of age. While an older goat can be castrated, I honestly do not recommend it as the blood flow will have been established by around 2-3 months of age. So if you plan on keeping those boys with does/ewes without worrying about them breeding, pull their boy parts out early! Also bear in mind that the older the baby is at castrating, the bigger they will be and the harder to hold down. Additionally remember if you plan to sell, that castrated goats and sheep (wethers) have a lot more salable uses than do their intact counterparts.
Now then, you have everything set out and ready to go, the scalpel should be in the alcohol and the Novalsan mixed up. Make sure your hands are clean. Go fetch your first little boy and have your helper sit in the chair. The helper should hold the baby on its back/butt with feet up and facing you. Have your helper put the left knee and hock in one hand and the right knee and hock in the other. It works best with the foreleg to the outside of the rear leg. The helper should then gently spread the legs apart. The belly and especially the scrotum should be well exposed by using this holding technique. The helper needs to be expecting the baby to struggle and hold on tightly no matter what.
Spray the scrotum with the Nolvasan solution, soaking the entire area thoroughly, be generous in the dousing including near portion of the legs and even the tail if it gets in the way. Take up the scalpel and pinch out the bottom of the scrotum. You'll want to apply some pressure to minimize the number of times you need to cut. In a clean stroke remove the bottom 1/3 of the scrotum. The baby will scream, this is normal! I promise the baby will forget all about it in no time! Toss the piece of scrotum in the offal container and then pinch the top of what's remaining of the scrotum above the testicles with one hand, with the other hand grab the testicle and slowly pull it from the scrotum. The pinching hand is there to aid in preventing pulling anything else out with the testicle, so be aware of what you're feeling there! You want a slow even pressure until the testicle comes free, never yank or jerk as you could pull something else out with it. Make sure the entire testicle comes out, including any cord that might break early. Repeat with the other testicle, never releasing the pinching hand the entire time (or you could risk the other testicle being pulled into the body!). Before you release the pinching hand, make sure to pull off anything that could hang down below the opening, fat or anything. If you leave anything hanging out, you risk it becoming an entrance for bacteria into the wound. Then your helper can release the rear legs and you should spray the entire area thoroughly with scarlet oil. Place the baby on it's feet in the clean stall/jug/pen and stand back and watch for a few minutes. The baby may go lay down for awhile, this is perfectly normal. After awhile the baby can be returned to it's mother for affection and comfort.
Now, some people ask me why I am not an advocate for banding. I have several reasons, not the least of which is that it requires specialized equipment to do it! You have to have a bander and bands. Then there is the increased risk of infection and gangrene. Plus if improperly placed, you can actually inadvertently miss a testicle! Then you are no better off than before. I simply much prefer to slice and pull. There is no way with this method that you will ever miss a testicle...ever. Not if you are certain that you pulled both of them in entirety.
Good luck!
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