banding vs. cutting

[Anonymous]

This is probably an old argument but I am curious what the board thinks and why Thank you.

 

[Campground Cattle]

This is probably an old argument but I am curious what the board thinks and why Thank you.

I have always cut, banding just seemed rough to me. Now I have no evidence of this, the cutting is quick and over.

 

[Ellie May]

Well this is the one time I've disagreed with you & hopefully my last. I always liked banding, less blood and less healing process. I've seen to many people get injured. Altough cutting your right is quicker. And when they are too big you have to cut.
Ellie May

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I've always done the knife cut, but I'm going to try banding for the first time this spring. The knife is quick and pain goes away quickly if you get them young, but the risk of infection and complications seems to be higher. Also, I think I can slip the band on with the calves in the head chute. With a knife I had to rope them in the corral, bust em to the ground and put a guy on the neck and two guys on the hind legs while surgery took place. I'm gonna try locking down their legs with lumber in the head chute and slipping in with the bander. If that doesn't work too well, I guess we'll still have to handle them in the corral.

 

[Anonymous]

I forgot to include in my question...If you cut do you split the sack or cut off the end

 

[Campground Cattle]

Split

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Always had trouble with drainage when I split. I cut the end off, but just enough that you can squeeze the goods out to sever them.

 

[greatgerts]

The new banders are the way to go, at least I think so. As far as I am concerned in the seedstock business, we gain our bulls out. The ones that do not match up become steers, and the easiest way is with the big banders.

 

[Campground Cattle]

Always had trouble with drainage when I split. I cut the end off, but just enough that you can squeeze the goods out to sever them.

Your right on the drainage. I don't cut my calves until two months, evaluating if he is a herd bull prospect. I sell quite a few bulls every year. The way my shoot is set up it was just easier for me to split. I split very low and squeeze the goods also.

 

[NCSU Maverick]

We cut at around two months too...but we cut off the end of the sack, but we've never had a problem....i prefer cutting because if you can count to two then its hard to miss a nut, unlike some of those botched band jobs that only get it half done

 

[la4angus]

We always cut the bottom of the sack.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I'm told you count to two with a bander also. Cut the band and start over if you don't count them. Sounds simple enough.

 

[Fred]

I was taught to cut off the lower 1/3 of the sack. Do you guys that band give a tetnus shot to each calf? If you have access to a calf table they are really nice for castrating. I use a Priefert calf table and it really saves a lot of work.

 

[NCSU Maverick]

I'm told you count to two with a bander also. Cut the band and start over if you don't count them. Sounds simple enough.

Yeah I'm sure its hard to miss a nut banding but I keep having flashbacks to a jersey "steer" with one nut that belonged to a neighbor that got in with our cows... gave us a scare but luckily didnt end up breeding anything

 

[la4angus]

The best is to cut with a knife. Have a big bucket to throw them in. Clean em, and all you have to do is batter em, fry em and FEAST.

 

[CattleAnnie]

We band our calves. No problem, like the man says, pretty easy to count to two. Occasionally get a calf with a real short neck on the scrotum, or one that no matter how you try can't manoever that second nut down into the sac, so I just mark him down in the book and leave him till branding day to band then. Seems like that extra month or two of growing makes it easier to band those small testie boys.
One reason we avoid the knife here is infection. It's usually pretty mucky by the time calving is full steam, so an open wound is like asking for trouble. Cutting the calves at branding time would be an option, but we generally trail them out to the pasture the week after we brand, and it's darn near impossible to moniter their health once they hit that place (it's got a total size of 30 miles long by 8 miles wide of area, and most of it's straight up or down river breaks with bush thick as hairs on the dogs back. Great grass in there, but next to impossible to rope an animal to treat them, and the gathering corrals are few and miles of rough country apart. Generally, the animals do or die out there, so the less chance of infection when we process them, the better).
It's interesting though to see the different points of view and reasons why people choose the way they do.
Take care.

 

[Craig-TX]

I grew up using the knife (cutting off the end) but have banded for the last 30+ years. I don't think there's a right or wrong. Both have their advantages. Cutting is faster if you have several hands helping or a calf table and you do get the treats. Banding is easier if you're working young calves by yourself and you just crowd them in a chute.

Just a guess, but I think one reason banding has become more prevalent is that most farms and ranches don't run so many different kinds of animals these days. In the "old days" when everybody raised hogs there was no choice for them. Force of habit caused nobody to consider that anything existed besides a knife.

Craig-TX

 

[shorty]

This is our second season for using a big bander , we band at about 450-500 lbs put them in a head gate chute give them a tetnus shot ,let them settle , make sure both are down and put the band on , within a week they start to turn color and in afew weeks they fall off . seems to be simpler than cutting , This we do ourselves we always had the vet do the cutting

 

[BLACKPOWER]

Well this is the one time I've disagreed with you & hopefully my last. I always liked banding, less blood and less healing process. I've seen to many people get injured. Altough cutting your right is quicker. And when they are too big you have to cut.
Ellie May

I cut two hundred a year and if you do it right there is NO blood, never have a problem with drainage, nver have lost a calf. About nuts being to big you are dead wrong. I'll never cut a calf thats over 6 months old, it's better to band them at this time, less stress on them, when you come out of your little smoky mountain cabin you might find a little device called a CALLICRATE bander that you use on BIG NUTS. This isn't the little toy you dock your lambs tails with.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Blackpower explain the bloodless knife procedure. I get blood every time. Not too much, but definitely can't call it bloodless.