Michele Arnold that appeared in Drovers Journal in 2011. Here is a link to an excellent article on this subject by Dr. Would you be comfortable inviting your non-agricultural friends out to watch the castration of 500 lb. In fact, research has shown that calves castrated from 1-7 days old showed very few behaviors associated with pain and their plasma cortisol levels were essentially the same as the calves left intact. Early castration is associated with less pain, stress and trauma. Research trials have shown time and time again that the earlier calves are castrated the better. Following are three good reasons to castrate bull calves early in life.ġ. ![]() However, chasing pounds in this manner comes at a discount. Some producers choose to leave bulls intact until weaning to increase weaning weights. If you watch the weekly market reports, you notice that we still have a significant number of intact bull calves being sold. But in times like these we really need to explore every avenue to add value to our calves. ![]() These are challenging times market wise and it is easy to dwell on the negative and become complacent in our management. – Kevin Laurent – Beef Extension Specialist, University of Kentucky
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