banding question

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Well I may have screwed up big time. Due to illness and other obligations dad and I were able to make it through calving season with out any losses except to a wild cat and a two week old calve that fell and landed upside down in a treelap and caught pnumonia. Anyway we were unable to get bulls banded as they were born so we waited until roundup about 2.5 weeks ago. We always use the little green cheerio but tried the tribander. We wormed and I gave the bulls a tetnaus shot as well as banding. Calves still look healthy except when the flies are around the little black bags while they are nursing. These were feburary and march calves under three hundred pounds. I get on here and read horror stories and I am now worrried. I won't be able to give second shot due to their location. What do I need to be looking out for? and did I screw up badly?
 
poorboy":1yf4fjny said:
Well I may have screwed up big time. Due to illness and other obligations dad and I were able to make it through calving season with out any losses except to a wild cat and a two week old calve that fell and landed upside down in a treelap and caught pnumonia. Anyway we were unable to get bulls banded as they were born so we waited until roundup about 2.5 weeks ago. We always use the little green cheerio but tried the tribander. We wormed and I gave the bulls a tetnaus shot as well as banding. Calves still look healthy except when the flies are around the little black bags while they are nursing. These were feburary and march calves under three hundred pounds. I get on here and read horror stories and I am now worrried. I won't be able to give second shot due to their location. What do I need to be looking out for? and did I screw up badly?

If they are already black and drying up - you dodged the bullet. Tetnaus will be shown in calves with bugged eyed, stiff walking and movement. If on grass and not dirty, they should be OK. Biggest problem with banding is with the larger 500-700 lb calves.
 
Larry I hope you are right. Next year I hope to catch them earlier, and at least work the ones I miss before the flies get so bad. They are easy to spot in the field they are the only ones having to swish thier tails. Bad strom this evening I didn't get to check on them. Thanks for the reply.

BTW, Where is hartford located, I'm in the eastern part of the state.

Thanks again,
Patrick
 
is the tribander the one with a large band like the little green ones? i lost two last year that i bought banded with the callibrate bander to tetnus. they were big boys. it happened before they dried up, the vet said that the bigger they are the chances go up. yours should be fine if you are worried about flies get them up and spray them,
 
It has a little larger band than the little green one, sort of also flat. I really liked using it except for on the smallest ones. I had problems getting it open and fitting it between their legs in the chute. But on the larger ones it would have been impossible with the smaller one. I will vacinate twice next time with it just in case. I try to get the newborns but it is too risky by myself.

Patrick
 
poorboy said:
Larry I hope you are right. Next year I hope to catch them earlier, and at least work the ones I miss before the flies get so bad. They are easy to spot in the field they are the only ones having to swish thier tails. Bad strom this evening I didn't get to check on them. Thanks for the reply.

BTW, Where is hartford located, I'm in the eastern part of the state.

Thanks again,
Patrick[/quote

Hartford is in Western KY - Between Bowling Green and Owensboro - Where the West KY Parkway and Natcher Parkway intersect. Come on out some day and buy a Good Bull!
 
poorboy":2r6qntr8 said:
Well I may have screwed up big time. Due to illness and other obligations dad and I were able to make it through calving season with out any losses except to a wild cat and a two week old calve that fell and landed upside down in a treelap and caught pnumonia. Anyway we were unable to get bulls banded as they were born so we waited until roundup about 2.5 weeks ago. We always use the little green cheerio but tried the tribander. We wormed and I gave the bulls a tetnaus shot as well as banding. Calves still look healthy except when the flies are around the little black bags while they are nursing. These were feburary and march calves under three hundred pounds. I get on here and read horror stories and I am now worrried. I won't be able to give second shot due to their location. What do I need to be looking out for? and did I screw up badly?

Perhaps I missed something here. Is it the flies you are actually worried about?
 
A while back someone posted a website where I could buy a bander, got busy, bookmarks got erased by the kids, and now I cannot find it. I need to band a larger bull. I cannot even remember the name but it looked like it used a large piece of surgical tubing. Seemed simple enough to use on the video from that webpage.
 
http://www.castrator.com/

I don't buy into their sales pitch about waiting, but the bander does work on larger calves. It's not difficult to get the technique down but it will help to practice the first couple of times on something besides an animal, such as the top of a T-post or a trailer hitch ball.

There are also other brands out there.

Craig-TX
 
I don't remember the web site, but Dun was talkng about the California Bander. Possibly could be, but I don't think it is the same one that Craig referred to.
 
Hey Tman, I guess it goes without saying, but please exercise abundant caution when doing the nut cutting or banding (or anything else on the ranch that involves your hands). It sure would be a shame for an organ transplant specialist like you to get badly cut, kicked, hand broken between chute boards, etc. for simply trying to steer a bull calf!! Of course it's none of my business and I don't want to sound like a pontificator, but I would sure hate for the old phrase "penny wise and pound foolish" ever to apply, with hindsight, to you. Regards, Arnold Z.
 
Arnold, Thank you for your concern. You can't live in a glass cage! Life is of no value if you do not live it. Besides I have broke more bones than the average joe.

Thought I would put him in the headgate, tie a rope to one of his hind legs and draw it up off the ground towards the headgate. Guess he could still kick but I get him too. :lol:
 
Craig-TX":30ujv8k3 said:
http://www.castrator.com/

I don't buy into their sales pitch about waiting, but the bander does work on larger calves. It's not difficult to get the technique down but it will help to practice the first couple of times on something besides an animal, such as the top of a T-post or a trailer hitch ball.

There are also other brands out there.

Craig-TX

Craig,
Thank you for the web site. Have you used this one ?
 
Yes, this is the one I've used but I don't have extensive experience with it. So far so good. I'm not saying it's the best, it's just the one I decided to try.

Craig-TX
 
If you just have a few you could have the vet do it for you. I took one larger calf that we were going to keep a bull and later decided against it to the vet when I had to take another cow for something and they only charged $5 to band him. It was a lot easier ten for me to mess with him since he was about 600 lbs. We cut ours all before they are 2 mts old. Do ya'll cut or band?
 

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