Histological assessment of testicular residues in lambs and calves after Burdizzo castration

To assess the reliability of the Burdizzo procedure for castrating calves and lambs, testicular tissue from 63 bull calves (15 intact and 48 castrated) and 69 male lambs (35 intact and 34 castrated) was collected at slaughter and assessed histologically. The bull calves were castrated at either one,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Veterinary record 2009-04, Vol.164 (17), p.523-528
Main Authors: Stoffel, M. H., von Rotz, A., Kocher, M., Merkli, M., Boesch, D., Steiner, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Animal welfare
Animals
Beef
calves
castration
Cattle - physiology
Epididymis - cytology
lambs
Local anesthesia
Male
Orchiectomy - methods
Orchiectomy - veterinary
Sexual Maturation - physiology
Sheep - physiology
Spermatogenesis
Spermatogenesis - physiology
Testes
Testis - cytology
Testis - physiology
Testosterone
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Summary:To assess the reliability of the Burdizzo procedure for castrating calves and lambs, testicular tissue from 63 bull calves (15 intact and 48 castrated) and 69 male lambs (35 intact and 34 castrated) was collected at slaughter and assessed histologically. The bull calves were castrated at either one, four to five or 12 to 16 weeks of age and the lambs at either one or 10 weeks. There was clear evidence of spermatogenesis in testicular tissue from all the intact animals. In the samples from the calves that had been castrated at 12 to 16 weeks functional testicular tissue was completely lacking. However, there was evidence of spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis in the calves that had been castrated at one week or four to five weeks, respectively. Failure to achieve complete involution of the testicular parenchyma was observed in the majority of lambs, irrespective of the age at which they had been castrated.
ISSN:0042-4900
2042-7670
DOI:10.1136/vr.164.17.523