Castrating a buckling.

[reallemons1]

I band and burn (dehorn) at 2 weeks. They complain very little and it's all done and over with.

 

[CarolinaGirl]

Hm, perhaps he is so anti-band and scared the heck out of me about it because that'd mean he wouldn't get my $120 since I'd be doing it myself?

I'm slightly leaning towards that now after thinking no way for a bit... If he has his tetanus shot, there's no other risk with that, I'm assuming. Obviously none of you guys have lost a buck from banding.

The idea of the anesthesia just makes me feel sick for some reason and I generally try to follow my gut. This is a really special little guy.

 

[greyfields]

Well there is one issues with banding. If it's done at a young age and is placed incorrectly, there is a condition of the urinary tract where I think they can get stones and in some cases have to be euthenized. Maybe that's the bias?

 

[helmstead]

That issue that Greyfields talks about is actually true with any form of wethering...especially when it's done too young (anything under 8 weeks in my opionion and the opinion of many, many breeders and vets is WAY too young).

Banding in itself doesn't pose any more threat for UC than emasculating. The problem lies in underdeveloped urinary tracts. The older the animal before it's wethered, the wider the urinary tract and therefore, the lower the incidence of UC.

If you band too close to the belly you can catch the urethra or other internal structures. You can also catch the male nipples, which will cause infections. We band. It works great, causes minimal pain to the goat and is very straight forward. We chose it over emasculating because once you band, you're done. Don't have to put the goat or yourself through it again.

If you want to help your little guy through the first 6 hours, give him some Banamine 30 mins before you do it.

I've only had one buckling carry on for any amount of time after it was done (but he was a sissy tee hee). Most of them whine about it for a few mins to a couple hours, then carry on with business as usual.

 

[lexustami]

My DH and I banded all of our bucks. They came from an auction so I don't know their ages but they are all adults. It was fast and easy and they didn't complain about it at all.

They are way bigger than bucklings but if you know how male testes work they are easy to manipulate into the banding device. At first, I was thinking there was no way we could get those big ol' things into that little hole but once DH showed me how to move things around it made perfect sense.

Take care,

Tami

 

[kstaven]

Wait until he is at least 8 weeks old and banding is a simple safe procedure.

 

[Eggseronious]

I would band him. Who ever bands him make sure that the band is just over top of the 2 seeds, not up high against the belly. There are 2 seeds, some people get in a big hurry and only get one, then U got a big mess later on. I have never casterated a goat, but hundreds of calves with a pocket knife or bander. In fact I got 3 calves out of a load last fall that had been banded and left one seed up in the calf, found that out later after they got a little age on them. Now you talk about a mess going back in to correct that!

Banding is great if its done right. Give that tetanus shot 2 weeks before the operation also.

 

[WrenAli]

I band all my ram lambs. Anywhere from 4 weeks on, depends on how big they are.

You do have to be careful not to catch the urethra, but if you set the band as far away from the belly as possible you should be fine. I've done tons that way and no problems yet!

 

[sara]

When I had my sheep I always banded them. They seem uncomfortable for a few minutes, and then go about like normal. I always sprayed the area with a medicated spray to prevent infection. I banded around 60 days, near weaning time.

Our cattle get cut. My brother does it for me.

They can also be pinched, I would assume that can be done to goats as well.

 

[Smoky73]

We band as well. My boss has show goats and they just had one they had bought that had a bad band job and got really infected. But that was that the people they got them from used too big of a band for the goat and it didnt quite cut off the circulation completely.
When we band, the goats walk funny for a few hours and cry alot but its like putting a rubber band around your finger tight, eventually, it goes numb. Just watch it if its warm enough in your area for flies.