kids encyclopedia robot

Castration facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testes or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.

In veterinary practice

Castration is commonly performed on domestic animals not intended for breeding. This helps avoid unwanted or uncontrolled reproduction and reduce or prevent territorial behaviour or aggression.

Male cattle are castrated to improve docility for use as oxen.

A specialized vocabulary has arisen for neutered animals of given species:

  • Barrow (pig)
  • Capon (chicken)
  • Dinmont (sheep, goat)
  • Gelding (horse)
  • Gib (cat, ferret)
  • Havier (deer)
  • Lapin (rabbit)
  • Steer (cattle)
  • Wether (sheep, goat)

Images for kids

  • V.M. Doroshevich-East and War-Eunuch near Door of Sultan's Harem

    Chief Eunuch of Abdul Hamid II (1912)

  • Elastrator rings

    Rubber rings and pliers used in elastration

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Castración para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Castration Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.