Veterinary castration

thumb|270px|A 15th century Ottoman Empire|Ottoman medical illustration by [[Sabuncuoğlu Şerafeddin depicting an operation for castration]]

thumb|Live capons in Hainan, China, displaying characteristic small head, comb and wattle|190x190px A capon (from , genitive ) is a male chicken that has been castrated or neutered, either physically or chemically, to improve the quality of its flesh for food, and, in some countries like Spain, fattened by forced feeding.

right|thumb|A 3-year-old gelding A gelding (/ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated camels. The equivalent terms for castrated male cattle are steer or bullock, and wether for sheep and goats.

Neutering, from the Latin ('of neither sex'), is the removal of a non-human animal's reproductive organ, either all of it or a considerably large part. The male-specific term is castration, while spaying is usually reserved for female animals. Colloquially, both terms are often referred to as fixing. In male horses, castrating is referred to as gelding. An animal that has not been neutered is sometimes referred to as entire or intact. Often the term neuter[ing] is used to specifically mean castration, e.g. in phrases like "spay and neuter".

thumb|Poularde de Bresse Poularde is a culinary term for a chicken that is at least 120 days old at the time of slaughter and fattened with a rich diet that delays egg production. In the past it was common to spay the chickens early in life to ensure desirable meat quality, similar to the castration of a capon.

offensive odour or taste from pork from non-castrated male pigs once they reach puberty

right|thumb|A Burdizzo, used primarily on goats, small calves, and sometimes on humans.

thumb|250px|Two emasculators of different sizes. An emasculator is a tool used in the castration of livestock. Its function is to simultaneously crush and cut the spermatic cord, preventing hemorrhaging while still detaching the testis from the animal.

thumb|250px|Rubber elastrator rings and pliers Elastration (a portmanteau of "elastic" and "castration") is a bloodless method of male castration and docking commonly used for livestock. Elastration is simply banding the body part (scrotum or tail) until it drops off. This method is favored for its simplicity, low cost, and minimal training requirements.