banding

[cagle520]

I have a two and a half mo. old little bull that I want to band. I've never put one on before. How do you determine what size to get for it? What else should be done? Maybe a tet.shot also.I'm not sure of the weight. Thanks.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Shouldn't be any problem at that age if you can corner and hold him. Make darn sure you get both testicles below the band. Use a bandezer or some other type of spreader. They are not expensive.

Always use new bands. They are cheap. You can use the small bands on him at that age with no problems.

 

[USMCRanchGirl]

A standard sized bander will work just fine on one that young. When Boogie refers to small bands, he means the ones that look like little rubber Cheerios.

The Basics: Slide the band onto the closed prongs of the bander. Get ahold of the calf and grab his cajones (easier for me if I have one person hold 'em while I band, but then again the calves far outweigh me by 2 months old). You'll more than likely need to pull both testicles down into the sack (just press up into his belly and push it down - you'll feel it). Make sure you've got both of them firmly in hand, hold the sack just above the nuts and stretch the sack down. Depress the handle on the bander to open the band and slide it over both testicles. Release the handle, putting pressure on one side of the sack with the band so you can slide the bander out. Count the testicles again before releasing to make sure one didn't slide back up on you.

Some people give a tetanus shot as routine, some don't. If you've got him down, you may as well give him the shot as a precaution. Either way, just keep an eye on him for any major changes in feed/water intake, weight, listlessness, etc.

Have fun!

 

[dun]

If you don;t own a bander or can;t borrow one, check the size of the scrotum ad nuts before you buy one. We frequently have claves a couple of weeks old that won;t fit the small bander. Last year we got a tri-bander, no more problems. Works on the little ones as well as pretty good sized ones.

 

[cagle520]

Thanks for the help! Like I say never done this before. Not to change the subject, but I started raising Longhorns last year.This one cow came in heat that was suposed to be bred, but wasn't. Any way a reg. black angus jumped the fence and tagged her. Always heard the poll and black was dominate, the calf is dark brown and with nubs on his head. Well he looks more of an angus, by the way his name is BBQ!

 

[TXBobcat]

Thanks for the help! Like I say never done this before. Not to change the subject, but I started raising Longhorns last year.This one cow came in heat that was suposed to be bred, but wasn't. Any way a reg. black angus jumped the fence and tagged her. Always heard the poll and black was dominate, the calf is dark brown and with nubs on his head. Well he looks more of an angus, by the way his name is BBQ!

Hello neighbor! We raise Longhorns also, and we're just down the road over in China Spring. Sounds like that calf will make some good freezer beef for you.

I like to use the tri-bander for banding bull calves. They are easy to use, just make sure you have both testicles down before you release the band. I also give a tetanus shot when banding. Here is the tri-bander

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=d2e30cf3-bbdc-4dc9-8c1b-7e0ef1364593

 

[twabscs]

Dun's right about the age of the calf not always representing the size of his testicles. Some small calves have big ones and big calves have small ones. I have all three bander sizes: cheerio, Tri, and XL. We band at most any age from 1 week to 6 months and I've got all three in a box with the bands. In reality, though, the cheerio bander works on most of them and the bands are super cheap in comparison.