Castration of male beef calves is widely practised to manage aggression and carcass quality, but causes significant pain that appropriate anaesthesia and analgesia substantially reduces.
Calf castration represents a routine welfare compromise where short-term and potentially long-term pain is accepted for production management benefits. Rubber ring castration, while apparently less invasive than surgical methods, causes 3-5 days of sustained pain as ischaemic necrosis proceeds. Local anaesthesia eliminates immediate acute pain from ring application but does not prevent the prolonged ischaemic pain phase. NSAIDs significantly reduce overall pain duration and intensity. Welfare-optimal castration combines local anaesthesia at the time of ring application with multi-day NSAID treatment.