banding 300-500 lb. bull calves

[tncattle]

Does anyone wait this long? Do you give a tetanus shot when banding at this age? What precautions should be taken when banding bull calves that weight between 300-500 lbs.?

 

[dun]

We use a tribander and don;t give any shots.

 

[Isomade]

Yes, and I give a BL shot with tetanus in it.

 

[pdfangus]

i HAVE DONE EM HEAVIER THAN THAT.

We used to take our weaning weights and then along with visual appraisal and other factors make our selections for bulls and heifer replacements. then about two weeks later we would have the vet out and process the entire calf crop.....

bulls and heifers got replacement vacines and heifers got bangs.

other calves got feeder calf vacines. and steers were created. we did give the new steers a tetanus.

we also did preg checks and cow vacines the same day.

two weeks later we weaned the calves.

 

[LimoX]

We band with the California Bander and give a Tetnus shot

 

[bse]

I use the Callicrate bander and give a tetnaus shot. Biggest precation make sure there caught good i raise the tail straight above there back to kinda put them in neautral, and make sure you have both nuts in the loop.

 

[Tim/South]

When I use the big bander I now give a tetanus shot.
We had one become toxic and were lucky not to lose him. We have given shot since then.

 

[tncattle]

We use a tribander and don;t give any shots.

I like the tri-bander, and you haven't had any problems with not giving tetanus shots?

 

[Old_man_emu]

I have always done them at that weight, its common practise. I don't know of anyone who has given tetanus shots.

 

[Galloways1]

We band with the California Bander and give a Tetnus shot

We do this too, as we always wait until Jan. to band. Some calves are 800 lbs plus. Vet said to give them tetnus, so we do.

 

[AllForage]

We use a tribander and don;t give any shots.

Same here

 

[Dixieangus]

I most definatly give tetanus, its cheap insurance.

 

[dun]

We use a tribander and don;t give any shots.

I like the tri-bander, and you haven't had any problems with not giving tetanus shots?

No problems so far.

 

[Farmerjon]

The loss of feed conversion due to banding or cutting is realized later? I feed mine out and slaughter as bulls. I have horses on my farm and farm with my horses so tetanus is a big issue for me. Consequently I quit castrating once the girls finished 4H.

 

[dun]

The loss of feed conversion due to banding or cutting is realized later? I feed mine out and slaughter as bulls. I have horses on my farm and farm with my horses so tetanus is a big issue for me. Consequently I quit castrating once the girls finished 4H.

The 10-12 buck cwt dock could make it a wash

 

[Lucky_P]

Best to give the clostridial bacterin containing tetanus toxoid at least a couple of weeks before applying the band, in order to give the calf's immune system a chance to respond - otherwise you're setting up a potential race between the animal's immune system and tetanus toxin production by C. tetani.
Tetanus antitoxin will provide some degree of immediate protection, but it's way more expensive than the tetanus toxoid products.

I saw 4 nice big 600-lb banded bulls(steers) down or dead and submitted to the diagnostic lab just a few weeks ago. The producer had given a bacterin with tetanus toxoid at the time of band application, but the calves developed clinical tetanus and died or had to be euthanized before they developed sufficient immunity to protect them - and they had several more affected, but wer treating them with high levels of penicillin and tetanus antitoxin - haven't heard whether those lived or died.

There's a reason why the label directions on those bacterin/toxoids recommend that you give it X number of days/weeks BEFORE performing a procedure that has the potential to set them up for developing tetanus. Yeah, I know it's 'unhandy' to have to run 'em through the chute that additional time, but with the price just one of those calves would have brought...you could probably have purchased a lifetime supply of vaccine.

 

[pdfangus]

I most definatly give tetanus, its cheap insurance.

well said....the cost of a tetanus shot is miniscule compared to the loss or even the treatment of one steer....

having said that...the freedom to opt out is unabridged ...... so far.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Some calves are 800 lbs plus. Vet said to give them tetnus, so we do.

1040# RA is my banding record. Can anyone top that?

 

[cowwrangler]

I noticed at the sale the other day alot of 800 lbs had bands on and still had the sacks,how long does it take for them to fall off? didnt seem to discourage the buyers,years ago it would have made them worth less

 

[Galloways1]

I noticed at the sale the other day alot of 800 lbs had bands on and still had the sacks,how long does it take for them to fall off? didnt seem to discourage the buyers,years ago it would have made them worth less

In my experience, if they were older when banded, it usually took a month or so, to completely fall off.