Description:
Anytime a buck has only one testicle descended. Both testicles should be descended at birth. We feel for both testicles in the scrotum at time of birth.
Bucks with a retained testicle (meaning it is inside the body, rather than the scrotum) cannot be fully castrated without abdominal surgery. This means they will continue to act and smell like a buck. They are also fertile with only one testicle, but should never be used for breeding. They do not make good pets because they always act like a buck. The best course of action is probably to eat them.
Interestingly, we discovered upon butchering our last cryptorchid (Tamie's son) that he was actually a triorchid, meaning he had 3 testicles! This made a lot of sense to us because of an experience we had with what we thought was a cryptorchid a few years ago. We tried to do surgery on Zoella's cryptorchid buckling before we sold him as a pet wether. We did remove a tiny testicle and assumed that would fix the problem. However, several months later, at his new home, he was a raging buck and his testosterone levels were higher than normal for a wether. Another veterinarian, at USU, performed the surgery and removed another definite testicle. And those two triorchids are related: Barbeillon was the sire of one triorchid as well as the uncle of the other. He is also the grandson to Eagle Scout. But again, we see it very rarely and Barbeillon is also the full brother of Caprice who got 2 Grand Champions and milked 1640 lbs.
Anytime a buck has only one testicle descended. Both testicles should be descended at birth. We feel for both testicles in the scrotum at time of birth.
Bucks with a retained testicle (meaning it is inside the body, rather than the scrotum) cannot be fully castrated without abdominal surgery. This means they will continue to act and smell like a buck. They are also fertile with only one testicle, but should never be used for breeding. They do not make good pets because they always act like a buck. The best course of action is probably to eat them.
Interestingly, we discovered upon butchering our last cryptorchid (Tamie's son) that he was actually a triorchid, meaning he had 3 testicles! This made a lot of sense to us because of an experience we had with what we thought was a cryptorchid a few years ago. We tried to do surgery on Zoella's cryptorchid buckling before we sold him as a pet wether. We did remove a tiny testicle and assumed that would fix the problem. However, several months later, at his new home, he was a raging buck and his testosterone levels were higher than normal for a wether. Another veterinarian, at USU, performed the surgery and removed another definite testicle. And those two triorchids are related: Barbeillon was the sire of one triorchid as well as the uncle of the other. He is also the grandson to Eagle Scout. But again, we see it very rarely and Barbeillon is also the full brother of Caprice who got 2 Grand Champions and milked 1640 lbs.
Inheritance:
This is definitely genetic. And one veterinary text (Goat Medicine by Mary Smith) recommends culling both parents anytime a cryptorchid results. However, we have seen this problem so rarely, while also seeing exceptional offspring from the same parents, that we do not cull parents or siblings, only affected bucks.
This is definitely genetic. And one veterinary text (Goat Medicine by Mary Smith) recommends culling both parents anytime a cryptorchid results. However, we have seen this problem so rarely, while also seeing exceptional offspring from the same parents, that we do not cull parents or siblings, only affected bucks.
Parents involved: