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Our hypothesis was that administering Flunixin Meglumine (FM) to lambs that were either rubber ring castrated and docked (RR) or surgically castrated and emasculator docked (SC) would decrease swelling and wound appearance score. Rambouillet ram lambs (n = 181) were allocated in a completely randomized design in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments to determine the effects of RR or SC and emasculator docking on ram lambs with administration of FM (2.2 mg/kg of BW) or saline (S; 2.2 mg/kg of BW). Wounds were assessed on days 4 and 7 post-treatment. The Wound Assessment Scale ranged from 1 – 5 and was determined from levels of discharge, scabbing, and wound healing. The swelling score was also a 1 - 5 scale, varying from no swelling, large amounts, or healed. Scrotal wound exhibited a treatment x day interaction (P < 0.001), however tail wound score (P = 0.84) and scrotal swelling (P = 0.36) were not affected. The SC treated lambs had a higher wound score on day 4 and 7 when compared to the RR treated lambs for both the scrotum and tail score (P < 0.001). Flunixin Meglumine had no effect on wound score of the scrotum (P > 0.50) and tail (P > 0.43) for both RR and SC groups. However, RR treated lambs had higher swelling scores on day 4 and 7 (P < 0.001). Flunixin Meglumine administration did not influence swelling score in treated lambs (P > 0.43). Surgical castration resulted in an increase in wound score compared to rubber ring castrated and docked lambs, but rubber ring castrated and docked lambs had an increase in wound swelling. Flunixin Meglumine did not have an impact on either wound score or wound swelling, regardless of castration method.

Our hypothesis was that administering Flunixin Meglumine (FM) to lambs that were either rubber ring castrated and docked or surgically castrated and emasculator docked would decrease behavioral stress, serum cortisol and haptoglobin concentration, but increase average daily gain. Rambouillet ram lambs (n = 181) were allocated with a completely randomized design in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Treatment combinations included rubber ring castration and tail docking (RR; placement of rubber band at distal end of caudal fold and around the base of the testicles) or surgical castration (SC; surgical scissors removing the lower third of the scrotum and testicles removed manually) and emasculator docking (crushing the tail at the distal end of the caudal fold, followed by cutting of the tail) on ram lambs with administration of saline (S) or FM (2.2 mg/kg of BW; RR-S, RR-FM, SC-S, SC-FM). Ram lambs were castrated at 12.5 ± 5.5 days of age and observed for behavioral changes such as lying down, leg extension and walking for 180 min in 30-min increments. Blood samples were taken at -30, 30, 90- and 140-minutes post-treatment to observe cortisol and haptoglobin levels. Behavioral traits, physiological traits, and average daily gain were analyzed in PROC GENMOD (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). A treatment x time interaction (P < 0.001) occurred for lamb pain behavioral scale, where scores at 30, 60, and 180 minutes after castration and docking exhibited differences among treatments. Average daily gain was not affected by a treatment x time interaction (P = 0.22) or treatment (P = 0.50) main effect. Serum cortisol concentration exhibited a treatment x time interaction (P = 0.002). The SC-FM lambs had lower cortisol concentrations (P = 0.004) than all other treatments at 90 min post-treatment, with the SC-S lambs having higher concentrations (P < 0.001) at 140 min post-treatment. Haptoglobin concentration did not exhibit a treatment x time interaction (P = 0.99); however, treatment and age were significant (P < 0.004). The RR-S lambs had an increase concentration of haptoglobin with SC-FM lambs being intermediate. Overall, results indicate that the method of castration and docking in lambs affected short lived behavioral and physiological stress, with the administration of FM decreasing stress regardless of castration and docking method.