Banding a Almost 6 month old

[tcolvin]

I banded today the little almost 6 month old. This was a first for me. I put in the head gate and tied one of her back leg forward to the head gate post. I used the XL bander and slipped over both testicles about 3/4" above them. Gave him his anti toxin and the second CD-T shot and tagged him and turned him loose. How high or low do you release the band? I pray I did it correctly. I also tried to band a 4 -5 day old but couldn't find both testicules as they were so small (pea size) so I decided to wait a month or so. Ideas please.

 

[A.J.]

It sounds like you did good. As long as you got both testicles below it, you should be good. We always try to keep the band down a little from the top of the sack so it's not right up against the body. Sometimes with newborns we almost have to milk the testicles down or let them move a little and reposition to get them to come down good. Some
Take longer than others for them to come down. It's amazing how much more of a handful they can be when they are 3 or 4 days old compared to the first day or two they are born.

 

[tcolvin]

It sounds like you did good. As long as you got both testicles below it, you should be good. We always try to keep the band down a little from the top of the sack so it's not right up against the body. Sometimes with newborns we almost have to milk the testicles down or let them move a little and reposition to get them to come down good. Some
Take longer than others for them to come down. It's amazing how much more of a handful they can be when they are 3 or 4 days old compared to the first day or two they are born.

You said it there! It took me and my son in law to catch him and he finally wrestled him to the ground and i banded him. Then after feeling around again I decided I only had one testicle banded. The other I guess hadn't come down so I cut the band and let him go for about another month then do it again if I can get him back in the coral. My young calves have a tendency to hang or lay around out side the pens instead of coming into the pens with the grown cows. Once they start eating it's another story. How do yo catch yours?

 

[A.J.]

You said it there! It took me and my son in law to catch him and he finally wrestled him to the ground and i banded him. Then after feeling around again I decided I only had one testicle banded. The other I guess hadn't come down so I cut the band and let him go for about another month then do it again if I can get him back in the coral. My young calves have a tendency to hang or lay around out side the pens instead of coming into the pens with the grown cows. Once they start eating it's another story. How do yo catch yours?

We've got a small herd, so I usually call the cows into the barnlot for a little feed to get them distracted, then grab the calf and take it into the barn or other side of a strong gate to band and tag it so can take our time without mama breathing down our necks. They get a lot faster and squirmier to catch if I don't get in the first day or two.

 

[wbvs58]

I'm glad you finally got him sorted however you have been talking about this for weeks, maybe months now. Why didn't you give him his 1st Tetanus toxoid way back at the start and then you would just have had to give him a 2nd one at the time of banding or even before rather than the more expensive antitoxin and it would have provided him with better and longer lasting immunity?

Ken

 

[TCRanch]

How do yo catch yours?

If I need to catch a calf and can't get it into one of the corrals, I'll either rope it (on foot), snub it to the grill of my Polaris and switch to a halter. Or I'll snag it with the Calf Catch. Great investment. The pole can extend to 10 ft.

 

[chaded]

I used to band right after they were born but I don't anymore. I got tired of trying to find them in the brush and having mom stand over my shoulder while im 'wrastlin' the calf and trying to find two nuts. I came to the conclusion that I really did not have a need to do that.

I band at around 4 months or so now. I have a barn lot with a corral attached to the barn with handling equipment in the barn. Usually, at that age they will go in the corral with the moms.

Once they are all in the corral I kick the moms out but keep calves in. I open the barn up and the calves flee the scary man into the barn. I close the barn and the calves in their attempt to get away from me go into an adjustable alley and chute where they are worked.

I let them out and they go back to mom. No trying to find hidden calves in the brush, no doubt you have both nuts, and no stressing mom out right after shes given birth.

But, people have different ways of doing things. Some times you just have to tinker around with different ways of doing things and see what best works for you.

 

[Travlr]

If I need to catch a calf and can't get it into one of the corrals, I'll either rope it (on foot), snub it to the grill of my Polaris and switch to a halter. Or I'll snag it with the Calf Catch. Great investment. The pole can extend to 10 ft.
View attachment 31320

Looks like something I used to fashion out of a coat hanger to catch chickens.

I bet you catch a calf with that and you begin to understand the meaning of shaken... not stirred.

 

[tcolvin]

I'm glad you finally got him sorted however you have been talking about this for weeks, maybe months now. Why didn't you give him his 1st Tetanus toxoid way back at the start and then you would just have had to give him a 2nd one at the time of banding or even before rather than the more expensive antitoxin and it would have provided him with better and longer lasting immunity?

Ken

Your right about weeks of talking about this. I had to get all my ducks in a row. First to research the best way to do it properly, hence ask questions, then find the right equipment for the job, order the tools and wait on them to come in, lol then get the help lined up to do the job. I guess to do it right the first time is to take your time and put a plan into action. Now that I'm done this I'm ready to do all males from here on, correctly.

 

[kenny thomas]

I used to band right after they were born but I don't anymore. I got tired of trying to find them in the brush and having mom stand over my shoulder while im 'wrastlin' the calf and trying to find two nuts. I came to the conclusion that I really did not have a need to do that.

I band at around 4 months or so now. I have a barn lot with a corral attached to the barn with handling equipment in the barn. Usually, at that age they will go in the corral with the moms.

Once they are all in the corral I kick the moms out but keep calves in. I open the barn up and the calves flee the scary man into the barn. I close the barn and the calves in their attempt to get away from me go into an adjustable alley and chute where they are worked.

I let them out and they go back to mom. No trying to find hidden calves in the brush, no doubt you have both nuts, and no stressing mom out right after shes given birth.

But, people have different ways of doing things. Some times you just have to tinker around with different ways of doing things and see what best works for you.

Sometimes they are dried off when i band but many times they are still wet. Rarely do I have a cow that wont allow it. Had 1 this year..

 

[kenny thomas]

Your right about weeks of talking about this. I had to get all my ducks in a row. First to research the best way to do it properly, hence ask questions, then find the right equipment for the job, order the tools and wait on them to come in, lol then get the help lined up to do the job. I guess to do it right the first time is to take your time and put a plan into action. Now that I'm done this I'm ready to do all males from here on, correctly.

Good job. Getting the first few is always a challenge. The more you do the easier it becomes.

 

[Brute 23]

Your right about weeks of talking about this. I had to get all my ducks in a row. First to research the best way to do it properly, hence ask questions, then find the right equipment for the job, order the tools and wait on them to come in, lol then get the help lined up to do the job. I guess to do it right the first time is to take your time and put a plan into action. Now that I'm done this I'm ready to do all males from here on, correctly.

You jumped in and got it done, thats the main thing imo.

 

[Travlr]

Your right about weeks of talking about this. I had to get all my ducks in a row. First to research the best way to do it properly, hence ask questions, then find the right equipment for the job, order the tools and wait on them to come in, lol then get the help lined up to do the job. I guess to do it right the first time is to take your time and put a plan into action. Now that I'm done this I'm ready to do all males from here on, correctly.

It's gotten to the point that your discomfort with the procedure has evolved into overthinking a very simple operation. Are you afraid of doing it wrong? There are many people here that have offered several ways of castrating your animal, and they all work and are safe. I've never met anyone that killed a calf by castrating them wrong. The only thing that hurts the calf is later infection, and that's pretty unlikely.

And you don't have to start an entirely new thread every time you have a question or idea. You can go to your watched threads and just add to the first one you started.

 

[farmerjan]

Yeah, had a vet castrate 3 calves once and killed one and the other 2 almost died...wouldn't stop slow bleeding, so yes, someone can kill a calf by castrating. That is what turned me totally off to cutting them... and we like the calicrate bander and so that is our our way of doing things, if they don't get caught as babies. Yet if someone cuts them that is fine with me... but I would really rather not do mine that way.
I would rather over think it for my first time... a 6 month old is one he// of alot of calf if you should lose it... especially with the value of them today...

 

[gcreekrch]

If I need to catch a calf and can't get it into one of the corrals, I'll either rope it (on foot), snub it to the grill of my Polaris and switch to a halter. Or I'll snag it with the Calf Catch. Great investment. The pole can extend to 10 ft.
View attachment 31320

I broke the calf catcher I had like that over a cow's head. We got some 1/2 inch aluminum rod and made a couple 7 foot long ones. They can be straightened many times….
Reading this thread and the OP's many others has me shaking my head. I am 62 now and tagged, intra nasal vaxxed, gave a Toltrazuril capsule and banded the bulls on 750 cows this spring. It takes less than a minute per calf.

 

[gcreekrch]

Sometimes they are dried off when i band but many times they are still wet. Rarely do I have a cow that wont allow it. Had 1 this year..

I had several object, they all chose standing off a bit over being rolled by a quad though. A couple got a few love taps in before I escaped.

 

[ClinchValley86]

Yeah, had a vet castrate 3 calves once and killed one and the other 2 almost died...wouldn't stop slow bleeding, so yes, someone can kill a calf by castrating. That is what turned me totally off to cutting them... and we like the calicrate bander and so that is our our way of doing things, if they don't get caught as babies. Yet if someone cuts them that is fine with me... but I would really rather not do mine that way.
I would rather over think it for my first time... a 6 month old is one he// of alot of calf if you should lose it... especially with the value of them today...

My neighbor had a couple bleed out when I first got into this stuff. Decided real quick I wasn't using a knife. He is very thorough too. I band about 6 months myself.

 

[TCRanch]

Looks like something I used to fashion out of a coat hanger to catch chickens.

I bet you catch a calf with that and you begin to understand the meaning of shaken... not stirred.

That's the truth! It works better with 2 people. Back when Mr. TC was able to help me, he'd snag the calf (be the anchor) while I'd take it down. But I was better at snagging the calf so we switched. And subsequently went skiing one time. One 'n done; I went back to tackling.

 

[bird dog]

I'm with chaded. Wait a little bit. Two months old is the sweet spot. The nuts are easy to find and hold but still usually small enough to use a small band. The calves are big enough that they don't turn around in the narrowed down alley but big enough to easily work in the squeeze chute. The vacs I give them at the same time don't get interference from the cows colostrum. They are ready for a implant that will take them to weaning plus their ears are bigger.

I have a 25 acre pasture that the pens dump in to. I let it grow up some so the cows are busy with the fresh grass and don't worry about their calves. The calves are all worked then dumped out together and the moms come fetch them. An hour later everyone is resting under the shade tree. It works the same on catching them. They rotate into a small two acre lush pasture that leads into the pens. I move them into it early in the morning then go back to the house for a cup of coffee and get the supplies ready. A hour or so later they are ready to get out of that small field and easily move into the pens once they see a few getting released.

The system works well. I had an old fence builder, cow man help me with the setup. I knew what I wanted, but he tweaked my design some and helped me size it correctly. He also suggested high tensile net wire for the fencing. The calves are fence line weaned in the same setup.

 

[Rancher]

I used to band right after they were born but I don't anymore. I got tired of trying to find them in the brush and having mom stand over my shoulder while im 'wrastlin' the calf and trying to find two nuts. I came to the conclusion that I really did not have a need to do that.

I band at around 4 months or so now. I have a barn lot with a corral attached to the barn with handling equipment in the barn. Usually, at that age they will go in the corral with the moms.

Once they are all in the corral I kick the moms out but keep calves in. I open the barn up and the calves flee the scary man into the barn. I close the barn and the calves in their attempt to get away from me go into an adjustable alley and chute where they are worked.

I let them out and they go back to mom. No trying to find hidden calves in the brush, no doubt you have both nuts, and no stressing mom out right after shes given birth.

But, people have different ways of doing things. Some times you just have to tinker around with different ways of doing things and see what best works for you.

I do with ya on waiting a bit, we do the same procedure as you have explained to a T