• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.60 no.12
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• pp.30.1-30.11
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• 2018

Background: Recently, as production costs have been increasing owing to rising feed prices worldwide, shortening the age of slaughter has been recognized as a way to increase farm income. In Korea, the raising period for Hanwoo steers is over 31 months with the delay of weaning and castration stated as one of the reasons for the increase in the raising period. Thus far, studies on age of weaning and castration have been conducted individually, and there have been no studies on the combined effects of weaning and castration ages on the growth performance and carcass characteristics in Hanwoo steers. Methods: Weaning ages were calculated at 80 or 130 days of age, and castration ages were calculated at 90 days and 180 days of age. Calves were allocated to one of the four treatment groups: W80C90 (weaning at 80 days of age and castration at 90 days of age), W80C180, W130C90, and W130C180. Results: For the entire experimental period, weaning and castration ages did not significantly affect growth performance of Hanwoo steers. In addition, weaning and castration ages did not affect the overall yield and quality traits of carcass in Hanwoo steers. Conclusion: Weaning and castration ages had small effects on growth performance and carcass characteristics in Hanwoo steers. Therefore, the early weaning and castration ages are recommended to reduce the slaughter age without any negative effects on meat quality grade.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.608-614
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• 2001

The effects of castration on growth and body composition of Javan rusa (Cervus timorensis russa) stags were examined at three slaughter ages in three experiments. Castration had no effects on growth rates, or liveweights at periodic weighings, at any stage in Experiments 1 and 2, when the stags were slaughtered at 19 and 13 months of age, respectively. In Experiment 3, monthly liveweights of castrated and entire stags were not significantly different until the stags were 21 months old. From this age, when they had recovered from their first rut season and were in their second spring/early summer, the entires grew more rapidly than the castrates. There were seasonal changes in growth in both treatments, indicating that pasture conditions influenced performance. Liveweights of entires and castrates were similar in stags slaughtered at 13 and 19 months, but castrates were smaller than entires at 25 months. Castration reduced the size of the head and skin, but there was little important effect of castration on body components at any slaughter age. Castration can be recommended as a management tool for rusa stags, especially if the animals are to be slaughtered before they exceed 19 months of age.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1069-1077
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• 2009

Castration of male pig produces significant negative effects on skeletal muscle development. The androgen receptor (AR), two splice variants of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I Ea and MGF) and the myostatin gene may play important roles in this process. In the present study, the expression of AR, IGF-I Ea, MGF and myostatin genes in three skeletal muscles, the brachialis, longissimus and semitendinosus, were studied using real-time quantitative RT-PCR. Our experimental design used 14 pairs of male Landrace sire${\times}$Yorkshire dam piglets. The two piglets in each pair were full sibs, one of which was castrated at 21 d of age; the other remained intact. The study group was divided into subgroups of equal size. Animals in the first subgroup were slaughtered at 147 d and those of the second at 210 d of age. Carcass weight and lean meat yield were similar between boars and barrows at 147 d of age (p>0.05), whereas barrows had lower carcass weight and less lean meat yield at 210 d of age (p<0.05). Castration caused down-regulation of AR gene expression at both 147 and 210 d of age (p<0.05). The two splice variants of the IGF-I gene from porcine skeletal muscle were cloned using RT-PCR, and it was found that MGF differs from IGF-I Ea in having a 52-base insert in the last coding exon of the mRNA. Both splice variants were down-regulated by castration only at 210 d of age (p<0.05). No differences in expression of the myostatin gene were observed between boars and barrows at either 147 or 210 d of age (p>0.05). These results suggest that the downregulation of AR, IGF-I Ea and MGF gene expression following castration helps to explain the negative effect of castration on skeletal muscle development.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.1258-1269
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• 2022

Objective: For improving meat quality especially tenderness, male cattle are usually castrated to removes both the testicles. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect castration method (half- and complete-castration) on meat yield and quality characteristics of Hanwoo male cattle. Methods: Thirty-two similar age (5.9 months) Hanwoo male calves were divided into: half-castration (HC) and complete-castration (CC) groups (n = 16 per group). At 7 months of age, all the animals were castrated in which the HC calves had only one testicle surgically removed while, the CC calves had both testicles surgically removed. The castrated animals were reared under identical conditions until 25 months of age. After slaughter, the carcasses were evaluated for carcass traits and meat yield of primal cuts. For examination of the castration effect on meat quality, L. lumborum and semimembranosus muscles were used. The meat samples were analyzed for chemical composition, color, pH, shear force and water holding capacity, fatty acids, metabolites and volatile aroma compounds. Results: The HC group showed higher meat yields of all primal cuts (p<0.05). As a result, the total meat yield was higher by approximately 44 kg in the HC group (303.32 kg, corresponding to 67.88%) compared to the CC group (259.30 kg, corresponding to 62.11%) (p<0.05). In terms of meat quality, the HC resulted in two times greater fat content in both muscles examined compared to intact males. More importantly, the shear force values did not differ between HC and CC groups for L. lumborum muscles (p>0.05). The meat from HC animals exhibited higher amount of free amino acids associated with sweetness (p<0.05). Furthermore, the castration method only exhibited a negligible effect on metabolites and volatile aroma compounds in the cooked meat. Conclusion: Half-castration emerged as an alternative practice to be used for increasing the yield and tenderness of male cattle meat.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.474-477
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• 2003

This study comprised 13 cases having canine perianal adenoma at Veterinary Medical T~aching Hospital, Seoul National University from January 2000 to October 2003. All referred dogs were intact male and mean age of dogs was 11.5 years (ranged from 7 to 15 years). The most prevalent breed was Shih Tzu. The clinical signs were presence of 1 to 5 cm in diameter firm mass, perianal swelling, hemorrhage, pain and dyschezia. The masses were located either in the perineum (12 cases) or tail (5 cases). Five dogs had masses with ulceration. Concurrent prostatomegaly and seminoma was found in 5 and 1, respectively. Castration was performed in 5 cases. In 8 cases, surgical excision of the tumor was performed with castration. There was no recurrence in all cases after removal. In all cases with castration, perianal adenomas were regressed within 1-2 months. In one case among them, excision of the tumor was also performed because of persistent ulceration. According to these clinical results, perianal adenoma excellently responded to castration with or without surgical excision of the tumor.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.521-528
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• 2023

Objective: This study investigated the effects of surgical castration on behavior, physiological and inflammatory indicators, and leukocyte cytokine mRNA levels in Korean cattle bull calves. Methods: Nineteen Korean cattle bull calves (average body weight, 254.5 kg; average age, 8.2 months) were divided into two treatment groups: control (n = 9) and castration (n = 10). Surgical castration was performed using Newberry knives and a Henderson castrating tool. Blood was obtained just before castration (0 h) and at 0.5 h, 6 h, 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, and 14 d after castration. Plasma cortisol (PC), saliva cortisol (SC), plasma substance P, and plasma haptoglobin concentrations, and the leucocyte mRNA levels of the interleukin-1-alpha (IL1A), interleukin-1-beta (IL1B), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL1RN), and interleukin-6 (IL6) genes were analyzed. Results: Castration decreased (p<0.01) the average daily gain and gain/feed ratio. Castration reduced the time spent eating (p<0.001) and the eating frequency (p<0.01) and increased (p<0.001) the lying frequency. Castration temporarily increased (p<0.05) circulating PC and SC concentrations at 0.5 h after castration. Castration temporarily increased (p<0.05) plasma substance P concentrations at 1 d after castration. Castration increased (p<0.05) plasma haptoglobin concentrations at 1 and 3 d after castration. Castration increased (p<0.05) leukocyte mRNA levels of the IL1A, IL1B, IL1RN, and IL6 genes at 6 h after castration. Conclusion: Castration temporarily induced stress and expression of leucocyte inflammatory cytokine genes in Korean cattle bull calves.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2003

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of castration and ovariectomy on growth performance and plasma hormone concentration in pigs. A total of 48 pigs of 35 days of age were used. The results obtained in the present study are summarized as follows: 1. No significant difference was found in average daily gain between ovariectomy group (898.6g) and control gilt group (862.7g), and between castration group (926.0g) and control boar group (945.5g), respectively. Average daily gain of control boar group, however, was significantly higher than that of control gilt group (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in feed/gain between ovariectomy and control gilt group and between castration and control boar group, respectively. Backfat thickness was significantly (p<0.05) higher in ovariectomy or castration group than in control gilt or boar group, respectively. 2. Plasma concentration of IGF-I was significantly (p<0.05) increased during the period of 5 weeks of age (45.1 $\pm$0.72 ng/ml) to 15 weeks of age (356.3$\pm$3.05 ng/ml), and maintained constantly afterwards in control gilt group, as was in control boar group. That of ICF-I tended to be lower in ovariectomy or castration group than in control gilt or boar group, respectively. Regarding steroid hormones of estradiol-17$\beta$, progesterone, and testosterone, the concentration was extremely low at 5 weeks of age, however, increased from 11 weeks to 23 weeks of age in control gilt or boar group, while it was nearly under detection limit in ovariectomy or castration group. 3. Chemical compositions of pork loins were not affected by ovariectomy or castration, except that crude ash content was significantly (p<0.05) higher in castration group than in control boar group. These results indicated that ovariectomy or castration had no effects on growth performance and feed utilization. However, the concentration of sex steroid hormones was under detection limit in ovariectomy and castration group. Further studies, however, are needed to develope the techniques which minimize the stress related with castration or ovariectomy for the production of high quality pork.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.537-547
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• 2018

Objective: This study was performed to understand transcriptional changes in the genes involved in gluconeogenesis and glycolysis pathways following castration of bulls. Methods: Twenty Korean bulls were weaned at average 3 months of age, and castrated at 6 months. Liver tissues were collected from bulls (n = 10) and steers (n = 10) of Korean cattle, and hepatic gene expression levels were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. We examined hepatic transcription levels of genes encoding enzymes for irreversible reactions in both gluconeogenesis and glycolysis as well as genes encoding enzymes for the utilization of several glucogenic substrates. Correlations between hepatic gene expression and carcass characteristics were performed to understand their associations. Results: Castration increased the mRNA (3.6 fold; p<0.01) and protein levels (1.4 fold; p<0.05) of pyruvate carboxylase and mitochondrial phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase genes (1.7 fold; p<0.05). Hepatic mRNA levels of genes encoding the glycolysis enzymes were not changed by castration. Castration increased mRNA levels of both lactate dehydrogenase A (1.5 fold; p<0.05) and lactate dehydrogenase B (2.2 fold; p<0.01) genes for lactate utilization. Castration increased mRNA levels of glycerol kinase (2.7 fold; p<0.05) and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1 (1.5 fold; p<0.05) genes for glycerol utilization. Castration also increased mRNA levels of propionyl-CoA carboxylase beta (mitochondrial) (3.5 fold; p<0.01) and acyl-CoA synthetase short chain family member 3 (1.3 fold; p = 0.06) genes for propionate incorporation. Conclusion: Castration increases transcription levels of critical genes coding for enzymes involved in irreversible gluconeogenesis reactions from pyruvate to glucose and enzymes responsible for incorporation of glucogenic substrates including lactate, glycerol, and propionate. Hepatic gluconeogenic gene expression levels were associated with intramuscular fat deposition.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 1998

Thirty two Omani sheep with eight animals each of; intact males (INT), males castrated with rubber rings immediately after birth (RR), males castrated with a burdizzo at 8 weeks of age (BC) and intact females (IF) were fed ad libitum a concentrate diet (CP 16%) plus chopped Rhodesgrass hay (8% CP) from weaning until slaughter at 28 kg. INT lambs grew faster from 9 to 20 weeks of age (p < 0.05) thus they were significantly heavier at 20 weeks of age than BC and IF, but not RR lambs. INT consumed more total feed than other sex groups over the period from 9 to 20 weeks of age. There were no significant differences between lambs of all experimental groups in feed per gain ratio. INT lambs had lower (p < 0.01) dressing percentage (DP) than RR, BC and IF. As a percentage in the empty body weight (EBW), INT had higher proportions of head, feet, empty gut (p < 0.001), liver (p < 0.05) and genitals (p < 0.05) but lower proportions of lungs and trachea (p < 0.05) than BC and IF lambs. INT males had a significantly higher (p < 0.05) proportion of bone than RR and IF lambs but lower (p < 0.05) proportion of fat than RR and IF. As a percentage in EBW, IF had the highest protortion (p < 0.001) of total body fat (TBF) followed by BC and RR whereas INT males had the lowest proportion. There was a general trend of IF having the highest proportion of individual and total non-carcass fat (TNCF) and total carcass fat (TCF) followed by BC and RR lambs whereas INT lambs had the lowest protortions of individual carcass and non-carcass fat depots. There were only few sex or castration effects on carcass tissue distribution. IF had higher proportions of intermuscular fat in the chuck, plate, leg and flank than INT and BC. The current study demonstrated that castration of intensively-raised male Omani native sheep especially at weaning using a burdizzo retarded growth rate and reduced carcass quality by increasing fat content.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.419-426
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• 2010

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different castration ages on meat quality and sensory properties of Korean native black goats over 410 days. For the experiment, 32 heads of goat (eight heads/4 treatment) were subjected to either a control (5 month non-castration), T1 (7 month castration), T2 (5 month castration) or T3 (3 month castration). The total weight gain for Korean native black goats was highest in the T2 group after feeding for 410 days and the weight gain/day tended to be similar to the total weight gain. The total feeding amounts were lowest (410.82 kg) in T3; however, the feed intake ratio was 16.39 in T2, indicating that it had the best feed efficiency among groups. The cooking loss and drip loss of the Korean native black goats was highest in the control, being 35.53% and 2.08%, respectively (p<0.05), while the total cholesterol of the treatments was higher than that of the control (p<0.05). Moreover, the overall sensory evaluation of the treatment groups was low, indicating that there was more meat flavor when compared to the controls in terms of juiciness, tenderness, flavor, texture, black goat off-flavor and overall evaluation (p<0.05). T2 was found to have the best meat flavor upon sensory evaluation. Additionally, the meat color of the control showed the highest $L^*$ value and Hue value, while T3 showed the highest $a^*$ value (3.61) and T2 showed the highest $b^*$ value and Chroma. The composition of fatty acids was 53.76% oleic acid in T2, while the amounts of Mono-unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) were highest in T1 and T2 (p<0.05). As a result, the MUFA/SFA ratios of T1 and T2 were higher than those of the control (p<0.05). In conclusion, it is most advantageous to castrate Korean native black goats at the age of 5 months for the best performance and meat quality.