Common Diseases of Farm Animals

by Robert Alexander Craig

The age at which the operation is performed varies in the different species. The colt is usually castrated when he is one year old, and the calf, pig and lamb when a few weeks or a few months of age. It is not advisable to castrate the young at weaning time. The operation and the weaning together may temporarily check the growth of the animal. Colts that are undeveloped and in poor flesh, or affected with colt distemper, should be allowed to recover before they are operated on. In all animals, it is advisable to wait until after they have recovered from disease and become thrifty and strong.

The spring, early summer and fall are the most suitable seasons for castrating the young. It may be practised during the hot or cold months of the year with little danger from wound infection or other complications, providing the necessary after-attention can be given.

The preparation of the animal for the operation by withholding all feed for about twelve hours is very advisable. If this is practised, the stomach and intestines are not distended with feed, and the young are cleaner, easier to handle and suffer less from castration. Clean quarters and surroundings are very necessary to the success of the operation.

The instruments required are sharp knives, preferably a heavy scalpel and a probe-pointed bistoury, an emasculator for large and mature animals, and surgeon's needles and suture material. Ropes and casting harness are frequently used for confining and casting the large and mature animals. Two clean pans or pails filled with a two per cent water solution of liquor cresolis compositus, or an equally reliable disinfectant, should be provided for cleaning the scrotum and neighboring parts and the instruments. Pieces of absorbent cotton or oakum may be used in washing and cleaning the scrotum. The instruments should be sterilized in boiling water before using.

If a number of pigs or lambs are to be castrated, it is best to confine them in a small, clean, well-bedded pen. This enables the attendant to catch them quickly and without unnecessary excitement or exercise. They should be taken to an adjoining pen to be castrated. The scrotum should be washed with the disinfectant, and the testicles pressed tightly against the scrotal wall. An incision parallel with the middle line or raphe and a little to one side is made through the skin and the coverings of the testicle, and the testicle pressed out through the incision. The testicle and cords are then pulled well out and the cord broken off with a quick jerk and twist, or scraped off with a knife. The latter method is to be preferred in large lambs if the operator does not have an emasculator. The incision in the scrotum should be extended from its base to the lowest part, in order to secure perfect drainage.

Young calves may be castrated in the standing position or when cast and held on the side. The method of operating is the same as recommended for pigs and lambs.

The castration of the colt may be performed in either the standing position or when cast. The method of operating is the same as practised in the smaller animals with the exception of cutting off the cord. The emasculator is used here. This instrument crushes the stump of the cord and prevents haemorrhage from the cut ends of the blood-vessels. Careful aseptic precautions must be observed in operating on colts, as they are very susceptible to wound infection and peritonitis.

The blood-vessels of the testicular cord are larger in the adult animals, and the danger from haemorrhage is greater than in the young. For this reason, it is advisable to use an emasculator in castrating all mature animals.

Complications Following Castration.—The haemorrhage from the wound and stump of cord is usually unimportant in the young animals. Serious haemorrhage from the vessels of the cord sometimes occur in the adult, and a persistent haemorrhage results when a subcutaneous vein is cut in making the incision in the scrotum. This complication is not usually serious, and can be prevented and controlled by observing proper precautions in cutting off the cord, or by picking up the cut ends of the vessel and ligating it. Packing the scrotal sack with sterile gauze or absorbent cotton, and closing the incision with sutures may be practised for the purpose of stopping this form of haemorrhage. The packing should be removed in about twelve hours.

The infection of the wound always follows castration. If the incision is small and the operation is followed by swelling of the neighboring tissues, the clotted blood, wound secretions and pus become penned up in the scrotal sack. Local blood poisoning or peritonitis follows. This is not an uncommon complication. It can be prevented by aseptic precautions in operating, and insuring good drainage by extending the incision to the lowest part of the scrotal sac. The scrotal sac always contracts down and becomes more or less swollen within a day or two following castration. We must keep this in mind when enlarging the opening, and be sure and make it plenty large to permit the escape of the infectious matter. In castrating sheep, all wool in the region of the scrotal sac should be clipped off, as this interferes with drainage from the wound.