tiger hunter
Active member
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2009
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 0
bull calfs are 3 months old.what is best way to castrate with a band or cut ?
bull calfs
- Thread starter tiger hunter
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
branguscowgirl
Well-known member
I would band them. Be sure to give them a Tetanus shot.
branguscowgirl
Well-known member
Dodge!dun":1oe6rk7t said:
jerry27150
Well-known member
most buyers don't like banded calves around here. they want knife cut. my old vet hated bands, he say put one on your finger & tell me there is no pain.
branguscowgirl
Well-known member
Nerves are pinched and numb in no time. Do not know when he is selling them.......maybe long after they fall off? Then why would a buyer care?jerry27150":1zal39l4 said:
Maybe the buyer has been burned on a load of stags. I saw a bunch come off a place that had 9 stags out of 13 banded calves. I helped work them when the vet fixed them. Two of the 9 had both testicles. If you use a knife, and can count to anything near two, you will never get docked on a stag. Either bands can break off, the testicle squeezes through, or people don't know what they are doing, but banded calves will have stags in them. A stag is a banded calf with a testicle up in it's belly, since it no longer has a scrotum. Usually won't throw calves, but will grow and act, just like a bull. At least with a bull, the buyer has an option of cutting them, stags require a vet, 'cause you have to cut their belly open. If you do band, buy new bands every once and a while. Dry rotted bands are the usual problem. People just wadding a bunch of scrotum up in there and letting go is another problem. My contention has always been, that I can cut quicker than I can band. You make a cut, and the calf kicks, the cut is done. With the band, every time he kicks, you start over, if you are doing it right.
ga.prime
Well-known member
Banding isn't that hard to do, Andy. Of course there's always going to be some folks that don't know what in the shyt they're doing. Some that can't tell a rotten band from a good one or think they got two testicles when they only got one or don't care. I read a veterinary report that showed stress hormone levels following castration were least in calves banded within a few days of birth over any other method, if that's worth anything. I know it's less stressful for me to band within a few days of birth. Ear implants aren't hard to do either.
branguscowgirl
Well-known member
Andy, I can totally understand that rationale. However if someone is THAT POOR at banding them, they certainly do not have the skills to cut them either. :shock:
TexasBred
Well-known member
When you're holding two nuts in your hand you know you got both. Sometimes with very young calves you may "think" you got both and only got one. Can happen to the best.branguscowgirl":3mkdnpez said:
ga.prime
Well-known member
Occasionally on newborns it's only possible to get one testicle and sometimes neither testicle to come down into the scrotum. In that case they go uncastrated until another day. After the band is on, it is easy enough by sight and by feel to know whether or not two testicles are under the band. If only one is in there, cut the band off and try again.
skyhightree1
Well-known member
I try to band within the first couple of weeks personally.
branguscowgirl
Well-known member
I wait a good month or two, and let them get a good start......just always thought it was good to have them up and healthy with some groceries in them. Never had a problem with banding, but I do not deal in high volumes either like some of you do. But if someone can't make sure that they have 2 nuts through a band, I surely don't trust them to "cut" properly either.skyhightree1":3ua300q4 said:
I did hear of "someone getting part of the urinary cord in through the band and the calf couldn't pee anymore and quickly died." (So I was told by a friend.) But not sure if that is truly possible or not??
What kind of cattlemen have you been around. Geeze. We band at around 500 pounds, this is way before weaning so they are steers when they hit the sale barn. No way no how is anyone going to know how that calf was cut, now way in heck they will dock a calf no matter how he was cut.Andyva":3mvn8km5 said:
While the guys worm and vaccinate, i'm doing my job and are usually done before they are. I have absolutely no problems with our calves kicking, thats the beauty of the squeeze..Catch their heads, squeeze. Usually the testicles pop out behind them, 1 in about 20 will need resqueezed to get them where i can get to them. Would have to do that no matter if i were cutting or banding.
I've cut both ways, do not need anyone to instruct me how to do it. lol
Anyone who argues that head to head a calf castrated at 2 days is going to grow as big as a bull calf to 5 months. You sure havent been around enough cattle to know bulls get hormones and muscle up better than a calf who has had it taken away at birth. Sorry, thought you guys knew your cattle better... :? Cutting them out started many years ago when cowboys didnt want to wrestle a big calf, you can get hurt. SO, they did it to baby calves they could handle.
Actually it's pretty easy to tell the difference. With banding there is typically no scrotum with knife cut there is a sizeable portion of scrotum still hanging down and healed up. One feed lot buyer told me that his customers like that section scrotum because it helps them determine the fat the calf is laying on.cowgirl8":142xpa2a said:
Nesikep
Well-known member
I can't argue that the bull calves do grow better, but it is easier for me to do it at a couple days old... I now double-band them.. I had one snap when I was putting it on and thought I'd better buy some insurance. If the calves are tame, I can usually do it without any commotion.. just when they're laying down, I move their leg to the side and slip it on, and by the time they figure it out, I'm done... The tag after that and they can get up.
I found the best way to do it is to hold the neck of the scrotum between my left middle and index finger, use my right hand to make sure I have both nuts, get the bander out of my pocket and put it on, using my left thumb to work them in and hold them in place, then tighten up the band a little, and make sure I have some slack on each side of the band, slip them off and done... I ought to get it on video sometime.
I found the best way to do it is to hold the neck of the scrotum between my left middle and index finger, use my right hand to make sure I have both nuts, get the bander out of my pocket and put it on, using my left thumb to work them in and hold them in place, then tighten up the band a little, and make sure I have some slack on each side of the band, slip them off and done... I ought to get it on video sometime.
ga.prime
Well-known member
Have you ever heard of hormone implants? If my calves weaned any heavier I'd have to haul them one at a time to the sale.cowgirl8":1a29twsa said:
TexasBred
Well-known member
Research shows that calves steered at any age grow just as fast as bulls calves. Study up !!cowgirl8":ctzp3bwt said:
