Comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of two methods of castration of Aberdeen Angus bulls

Abstract

A decrease in testosterone slows down muscle growth, but at the same time, fat layers are deposited in the meat in the form of a pattern, it becomes softer, has better taste characteristics and does not have a specific smell. The aim of the research is to provide a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of castration of bull calves using two bloodless methods: using a Callicrate smart band elastrator and Burdizzo forceps. The experiment was conducted on Aberdeen Angus calves kept on the Golubcha farm of Bryansk Meat Company LLC, located in the Trubchevsky district of the Bryansk region. Two groups of bull calves aged 12 to 15 months were formed. The calves of the experimental group were castrated with Burdizzo forceps. The bulls of the control group were castrated using a Callicrate smart band elastrator. In the experimental group, 20% of the animals had complications of varying severity. The most common types of post-surgical complications were skin wounds and inflammatory edema, purulent necrotic processes in the scrotum. Almost all calves neutered with forceps had inflammatory edema of varying severity, which subsided after 10-13 days. In the control group, complications were noted in 16.25% of animals. The cause of the complications was damage to the skin of the scrotum at the site of the adhesion ring, followed by the development of a wound infection. Incomplete tightening of the elastic band led to partial preservation of testicular nutrition. In such animals, venous congestion and increased soreness in the tissues of the scrotum and testicles were observed, and edema persisted for more than three weeks. The rupture of the elastation ring and its loss caused a delay in the loss of the mummified scrotum with testes and the development of inflammatory processes with the proliferation of pathological granulation tissue in the stump area.