On-farm evaluation of pinhole castration for mass castration of goats and cattle in pastoral communities of central Uganda

Abstract

Pinhole castration is described as simple, cheap and minimally invasive alternative to conventional surgical castration. We evaluated effectiveness, associated costs and animal's systemic responses during mass castration of kids and calves in pastoral communities of central Uganda. Kids (n=112) and calves (n=201) routinely presented to community practitioners were castrated using pinhole technique. Rectal temperature and appetite was noted for six consecutive days after castration. Sixty days later, the testes were observed for evidence of gross atrophy. Testes showing gross changes were recovered by knife castration for histopathology. The mean age of kids was 3-4 months, while calves were about a year or older. Each pinhole procedure lasted for 7-8 min and consumed 10-15 cm of suture; costing 0.3-0.4 US dollars. Following castration, there was significant (t =-3.46; P<0.05) rise in mean rectal temperature (39.7°C) in both kids and calves for 3-5 days. About 5% of castrated animals showed unilateral or bilateral noatrophy; however, 94% of these were actually hydrocele with dysfunctional testes. In conclusion, pinhole castration is an effective, minimally invasive, cheap and simple alternative for mass castration of kids and calves. However, efficacy of the technique should be investigated further in calves that are about a year of age. Keywords: Pinhole technique; mass castration; pastoral communities; Uganda To cite this article: Okwee-Acai J, G Bigirwa, JS Onyait, B Agwai and J Acon, 2016. On-farm evaluation of pinhole castration for mass castration of goats and cattle in pastoral communities of central Uganda. Res. Opin. Anim. Vet. Sci., 6(1): 13-18.