ABSTRACT
The history of castration is probably almost as old as the history of the domestication of animals to fulfill man’s requirements for meat, animal products, and draft power. From prehistoric bones found at Skara Brae in Orkney, Scotland the existence of castrated male cattle was postulated on the basis of the shape of the horn core. 1 The adoption of castration was probably originally related to the greater tractability of the castrate and the greater ease with which it was husbanded in the presence of the mature female. Later, the idea of limiting indiscriminate breeding occurred, and the first indication of a market demand was a preference for the fatter and more tender carcass of the mature ox and wether.
