Author Topic: To castrate or not to castrate... (Read 4163 times)

Nethermoor Pigs · « **on:** April 28, 2014, 04:18:39 pm »

Hello i have a 2 and a half month old ram lamb which is entire (i bought it this way). It is destined for the freezer so would it be best to use a bloodless castrator or something to allow it to stay with its mother and sister until slaughter day. It would be hassle to pen it up. Ive heard you can only keep it with mother for 4 1/2 months. Is this right?? How difficult is it to castrate and would it be worth it? For a Zwartbles, do any of you know what is the best age/weight to kill for lamb??

Sorry lots of questions, some of you knowledgeable ones can hopefully answer!

landroverroy · « **Reply #1 on:** April 28, 2014, 06:51:50 pm »

Males grow faster if uncastrated, and if you have plenty of grass you should easily get him fat in four months or so.
Ewes usually don't get pregnant again till about 6 months after lambing if they are still feeding their lambs, so again you should have a bit of leeway.
Last year I grazed a texel ewe and her 2 lambs - one male and one female. The ram lamb stayed with her till she lambed again this year - almost a year to the day since her previous lambing. So obviously she wasn't mated any earlier from having her son with her.
So, if it was me I wouldn't castrate.

devonlad · « **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2014, 07:20:13 pm »

fairly sure that only bloodless castrators an option at his age and at 3 months castration can only be carried out under anaesthetic. Not sure i'd be confident in wielding burdizzos . i'd prob be inclined to leave it but only if its practical to keep him separate later. he'd surely hop aboard mother at an obscenely young age. otherwise probably best ring the vet and have it done surgically

Nethermoor Pigs · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2014, 09:01:45 pm »

thanks for your help. I think i'll leave it. devonlad, are you saying that it should be ready for slaughter within the 4 1/2 month guideline for separating?? Sorry, don't have a clue as to slaughter times but i want nice tender lamb!

devonlad · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2014, 09:18:02 pm »

unlikely to be ready at 4 1/2 months- ours tend to take 8-9 months at least= we lamb in march and try to get them to slaughter just before christmas but we only finish on grass so generally takes longer. basically if you're keeping him entire he'll need to be away from ewes at 4-5 months. he'll really need a bit of company though so if you haven't got another male then castration probably best- not a fan of keeping flock animals on their own- unkind really

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2014, 09:24:53 pm »

Quote from: devonlad on April 28, 2014, 09:18:02 pm

not a fan of keeping flock animals on their own- unkind really

To put it mildly. It is not right to keep a sheep on its own, end of. So talk to your vet about castration. Although the lamb is young enough to use burdizzos, this is a skilled operation and can be extremely painful if not done correctly, not to mention ineffective. You'd be able to take a lamb this age to the vets, so it wouldn't cost too much to have it done professionally.

Nethermoor Pigs · « **Reply #6 on:** April 29, 2014, 05:37:03 am »

When you say not too much, do you have a rough figure?

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #7 on:** April 29, 2014, 08:28:57 am »

Even if I did know what my vet would charge (I don't), that wouldn't help you as your vet could charge something completely different.

I think Rosemary had a lamb castrated a year or two back, perhaps she will tell you what she paid.

But the easiest thing would be to phone your vets and ask!

twizzel · « **Reply #8 on:** April 29, 2014, 05:11:57 pm »

I bought a store lamb last year that was entire, I kept him entire as he was 3 1/2 months when I bought him. We separated him in September with a wether friend for company in a field 2 fields away from the ewe lambs, he was fine but we were lucky we had a wether lamb to buddy up with him. He went to slaughter in mid October.