 Docking (~91 %), castrating (~78%), and disbudding
are management practices routinely performed on
sheep and goat farms.
 Maintaining a high standard of animal welfare should
be a consideration in all decisions related to docking,
castrating, and disbudding.
Docking lambs
 The tail protects the sheep's anus, vulva, and udder
from weather extremes.
 Docking prevents fecal matter from accumulating on
the tail and hindquarters of sheep and lambs.
 Research has shown that tail docking greatly reduces
fly strike (wool maggots), while having no ill effect on
lamb mortality or performance.
Banding tails
 The simplest and most




common method: apply a
rubber ring (band) to the tail
using an elastrator tool.
Banding is a bloodless method
of tail docking.
The band cuts off the blood
supply to the tail,
The tail falls off in 7 to 10 days.
Some producers cut the “dead”
tail off before it falls off.
 Lambs should be at least
24 hours old before bands
are applied,
 Bands should only be
applied during the lamb's
first week of life.
 When the elastrator
technique is used, it is very
important that the lamb be
protected against tetanus
 If it is practical, the use
of a local anesthetic,
such a lidocaine, can be
used to reduce the pain
felt by the lamb.
 Scrub with betadine for
disinfecting, also it helps
for position correctly the
rubber band
 Landmark: no shorter than
the distal end of the caudal
tail fold
 Too short rectal & vaginal
prolapse
 http://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=6EkEm7Rbm7k
Castration of rams and bucks
 The decision to castrate ram lambs and buck kids
should be based on the management preferences of
the producer and the demands of the market place.
 Ram lambs grow faster than ewe and wether lambs and
when ram lambs are marketed at a young age (less
than 5-6 months), the market place usually does not
discriminate in price.
 Buck kids grow faster than wether kids until they reach
sexual maturity
Castration by banding
 An elastrator band can be placed
around the neck of the scrotum,
with care taken not to place the
band over the rudimentary teats.
 The scrotum will shrivel up and fall
off in two to three weeks.
 As with docking, the “dead”
scrotum may be removed after a few
days.
 Both testicles must be below the
placement of the band. If one
testicle is missed
Castration
 Both testicles must be
below the placement of the
band.
 If one testicle is missed, it
will be retained in the belly
cavity, resulting in a
"bucky" lamb or kid.
 A short-scrotum is a male
whose testicles are pushed
above the band.
 Castration by banding is painful
and should be done at a young
age (1 to 7 days). Some experts
advocate the use of lidocaine to
reduce the pain felt by the
animal.
 As with banding tails, lambs
and kids should be protected
against tetanus though either
colostridial immunity or use of
the tetanus anti-toxin at the time
of castration.
 10 days later
Surgical castration of ram lambs
and buck kids
 Testicles may be surgically removed. With surgical
castration, a sharp knife or preferably a scalpel is used
to remove the bottom one-third of the scrotal sac.
 The testicles are removed and the wound is allowed to
drain and heal naturally.
 It is essential that proper aseptic technique be used
when the surgical method of castration is used.
http://www.esgpip.info/PDF/Technical%20bulletin%20
No18.html
Castration – small ruminants
 Burdizzo emasculatome
 Crushes the spermatic cord
 which crushes the blood vessels
(thus depriving the testicles of
blood supply) and causing them to
shrivel up and die
 Don’t use cattle-size Burdizzo
 By six weeks of age
Hoof care
Squeeze shut
METHODS
 Disbudding
 Electric disbudding iron
 Chemical cautery
 Dehorning
 Barnes dehorner (pg 503)
 Gigli wire
Pros and Cons of dehorning
 PROS
 Dangerous weapons
 Damage can done by fighting
 Feedlots typically pay less
money for horned animals
 Can cause damage to the
facilities
 Horns may also become
tangled in fences, branches,
and other objects
 It is the best interest of the
animal to remove the horns at
the early age
 CONS (dehorning)
 tetanus
 sinusitis
 myiasis
 Abortion
 decreased milk production
 Death
 prolonged healing time of
the resultant surgical defect
 regrowth of the horns (scur
formation)
 Longitudinal cross-section of a horn, showing extension of
the frontal sinus of the skull into the horn. Dehorning,
which is performed at the base of the horn, exposes the
sinus
 Disbudding destroys horn cells
Surgical Removal
 Dehorning is usually performed on a conscious, sedated
animal with local anesthesia for control of pain.
Cornual nerve:
blocked halfway
between the
lateral horn base
and the lateral
canthus of the eye
Needle placement for desensitizing
the cornual nerve in the bovine. The
cornual nerve follows the temporal
ridge to the base of the horn
Infratrochlear:
halfway
between the
medial horn
base
and the medial
canthus of the
eye
Anesthesia for dehorning in the goat.
A, Needle placement for desensitizing the
cornual branch of the lacrimal nerve.
B, Needle placement for desensitizing the
cornual branch of the infratrochlear nerve
Dehorning
 Anesthesia
 Feed and water should be withheld for 24 hrs. and 12 hrs.,
respectively
 Xylazine 0.05 mg/lb (20 mg/ml) and butorphanol 0.05 mg/lb mixed
together and given IM or IV followed by local block

Tolazoline (reversal for xylazine) at 2 mg/lb
 If general anesthesia is preferred


ketamine and valium can be added to the below protocol by mixing
ketamine and valium together 1:1 and administering 1cc/20lb of the
combination IV.
inhalation anesthesia may be used
 Local block

1 cc of 1% lidocaine or bupivicaine SQ (cornual and infratrochlear)

lidocaine toxicity (muscular tremors, severe depression, hypotension and
occasionally convulsions) avoid using more than 13cc of 2% lidocaine per 100
lb
Dehorning
1. Surgical preparation
2. The skin is incised approximately 1.5 cm from the base of the horn (incorporate all germinal
or nonhaired epithelium in the horn removal to lessen the likelihood of regrowth or scur formation)
3. Assistant supporting the goat's head
4. Gigli wire is seated under the caudal aspect of the skin incision on one side and the horn is sawed off
in a cranial direction
5. Hemostasis can be applied to control hemorrhage from the superficial temporal artery
6. Remove all blood clots and bone chips/dust from the frontal sinuses
7. Bandage (nonadherant dressing (Adaptic®) covered with antibiotic ointment): EOD – week 1; SIW until sinuses’s close
8. Flunixin should be administered for 2-3 days post-operatively and antibiotic administration is at the discretion of the
surgeon. Tetanus antitoxin (500 IU) should always be given and a dose of a CD-T bacterin can also be administered
to boost immunity.
Chemical Cautery
Example Procedure for Dehorning
1. 10 min before dehorning calves are
sedated with xylazine (0.2 mg/kg IM).
2. Hair is clipped around each horn bud, a
thin film of caustic paste (2 cm diameter)
is rubbed into the scalp until each horn
bud is evenly coated, and a ring of
petroleum jelly is applied around the paste
to prevent spreading.
3. Calves are allowed to rest sternally until
recovered from sedation.
(A) Well-healed scabs after caustic paste dehorning
(B) Over-application of caustic paste can damage the calf.
 Dehorning “Chiva”
Heat Cautery - Disbudding
 This is he fast and almost bloodless method is popular,
specially in goat kids (3-7 days)
 The tip of the disbudding iron is shaped in an open circle.
 When the electric disbudding iron is sufficiently
heated, the tip is centered over the horn bud and applied
with circular “rocking” motion with light pressure
 circular tip of the iron should be about ¾ of an inch in diameter
 8 to 15 seconds
 You will see a “copper-colored" ring around the horn bud if the procedure went as it
should


http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=dehorning+goats&www_google_domain=www.google.com&
hl=en&emb=0&aq=0&oq=dehorning+goat#
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=dehorning+goats&www_google_domain=www.google.com&
hl=en&emb=0&aq=0&oq=dehorning+goat#
References
 http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/castdockdisb.
html
 http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/avhc/article/ar
ticleDetail.jsp?id=587158&sk=&date=&pageID=2
Review
 ID - Breeds
 Terminology
 http://quizlet.com/3852511/production-animalfinal-flash-cards/
 TPR of ruminants and PE
 Gestation period of ruminants
 Restraint
 Management procedures: docking,
dehorning/debudding, castration