bull calfs

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Is he saying it to describe it to be a steer, may be his silly use of a word you've misinterpreted? I'll have to pay better attention at the sale. Have to admit most of what i hear is Blibbly blobbly yeggidy yaggidy...lol...When we cut calves way back in the day, i was always told to cut off the bottom of the scrotum so that if anything were to ooze it would ooze out. As it healed and the calf grew, that remaining scrotum would be pulled up and gone. I have not been able to tell the difference between the two months later. But, i will be paying more attention any time i go to the sale barn. And if you are making a vertical slit in the scrotum to get out the nut, you're risking infection. This is what i was taught. Our steers at the time of sale will have a fat bubble around where they use to jewels, just the same as a cut calf.
Also might add that at the sale barn our calves always are on the high end of the numbers paid..guarantee if we were being docked, husband would see it and we'd be cutting instead.

There is a huge difference in how they look banded versus knife cut! The sac is still there in a knife cut calf. Case in point, our kids participate in the carcass contest, where they take a home raised steer and raise it to slaughter and they are judged as calves, at butcher weight, then on the rail. At EVERY point, the instructor has the kids look at the cod, or where the testies used to be, and notice the difference in the cut calves (ours) and banded calves. At every stage (feeder, fair, and pre-slaughter), there is a big difference and everyone, even the novice kids, can pick out the calves that were knife cut. They teach the kids to look at the cod, like Dunn said to look at degree of finish.
Now whether a calf is docked or not at the sale barn I do not know, but a person can tell by visual appraisal if a calf is banded or knife cut. Maybe each sale location is different depending on the buyers who are there and their desire???

 

[kenny thomas]

I seen a vet working some calves this week and stopped to talk to him and he was banding with the big bands and then slicing both sides of the bag. First time I had seen this done. I ask why he didnt just cut them and he really didnt have an answer.

 

[Shanghai]

I seen a vet working some calves this week and stopped to talk to him and he was banding with the big bands and then slicing both sides of the bag. First time I had seen this done. I ask why he didnt just cut them and he really didnt have an answer.

I started to mention that but I didn't want to hear how wrong and stupid that it is from others
I know guys that do that and they process lots of sale barn calves for wheat pasture
They claim that the swelling in the sack can push "poison" up past the band, but by opening the sac it doesn't build pressure and dries out faster.
Some come back in a week to 10 days later and cut the sac off
Whether this is right or wrong I can't say, but the guys have done 1000's

 

[kenny thomas]

I seen a vet working some calves this week and stopped to talk to him and he was banding with the big bands and then slicing both sides of the bag. First time I had seen this done. I ask why he didnt just cut them and he really didnt have an answer.

I started to mention that but I didn't want to hear how wrong and stupid that it is from others
I know guys that do that and they process lots of sale barn calves for wheat pasture
They claim that the swelling in the sack can push "poison" up past the band, but by opening the sac it doesn't build pressure and dries out faster.
Some come back in a week to 10 days later and cut the sac off
Whether this is right or wrong I can't say, but the guys have done 1000's

It's got me interested enough that I will try 15 or so next week and notice if there is any difference. I usually knife cut anything I miss at birth and all the calves I buy.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Good question! I was wondering that myself........ :???:
I might add, everyone I know wants a "hormone free" piece of meat.

Must be a California thing. Most people simply want something to eat and hopefully it is beef. Hormones and origin are the least of their worries.

Yes, it very well may be "a California thing." Everyone is buying "Organic" everything around here. Meat is hormone free and organically raised. Organic vegetables, Milk that is hormone free from organically raised cows. Products that are made with only organic ingredients ect. ect.. Almost everyone I know, raises or buys their food this way. And it does not stop with food. Lotions, hair products, baby items and almost anything else that you can think of. ("Organic" meaning no pesticides, vaccinations, antibiotics, hormones and more.) Heck, people even feed only "organic " food to their dogs and cats!
I personally do not pay much attention to it all, or know the whole criteria for raising and processing the 100% organic food. But I do know that they feel "earlier puberty, earlier menstruation, and several other issues in children are related to the hormones given to the animal products consumed." True or not, I do not know. Just sharing what I am seeing.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I seen a vet working some calves this week and stopped to talk to him and he was banding with the big bands and then slicing both sides of the bag. First time I had seen this done. I ask why he didnt just cut them and he really didnt have an answer.

I started to mention that but I didn't want to hear how wrong and stupid that it is from others
I know guys that do that and they process lots of sale barn calves for wheat pasture
They claim that the swelling in the sack can push "poison" up past the band, but by opening the sac it doesn't build pressure and dries out faster.
Some come back in a week to 10 days later and cut the sac off
Whether this is right or wrong I can't say, but the guys have done 1000's

I does make perfect sense.......

 

[cowgirl8]

I seen a vet working some calves this week and stopped to talk to him and he was banding with the big bands and then slicing both sides of the bag. First time I had seen this done. I ask why he didnt just cut them and he really didnt have an answer.

I started to mention that but I didn't want to hear how wrong and stupid that it is from others
I know guys that do that and they process lots of sale barn calves for wheat pasture
They claim that the swelling in the sack can push "poison" up past the band, but by opening the sac it doesn't build pressure and dries out faster.
Some come back in a week to 10 days later and cut the sac off
Whether this is right or wrong I can't say, but the guys have done 1000's

I does make perfect sense.......

Interesting.. makes sense. I may even try this..

 

[highgrit]

Cowgirl, Are you saying when you band and miss one nut. And then after the one nut you did band falls off. Do you mean the other nut will just fall out? :bs: It's not happening. And the product might say hormone free but I don't know how that's possible any more.

 

[Shanghai]

A Visual To Add To Your Arsenal About Hormones & Beef

http://beefmagazine.com/blog/visual-add ... mones-beef

 

[Tim/South]

I seen a vet working some calves this week and stopped to talk to him and he was banding with the big bands and then slicing both sides of the bag. First time I had seen this done. I ask why he didnt just cut them and he really didnt have an answer.

We knife cut as soon as a bull calf begins riding other calves.
We also have a Callicrate and for a few years used it for larger yearlings bought from small farms. A cattleman friend told us to slit the bottom of the scrotum to allow draining. He said they did not stink and fell off quicker. The few people I know who use the big bander make drainage slits.

My grandfather always banded when the calves were young. He had a wax string and would slip knot both jewels. He ran the tag end through the band and adjusted the band where he wanted it. We never tried to count while actually trying to get then through the band. We had the components caught and hog tied before the band went on.

 

[branguscowgirl]

A Visual To Add To Your Arsenal About Hormones & Beef

http://beefmagazine.com/blog/visual-add ... mones-beef

Good article. You can be sure that I have forwarded it to most of my family members. Lol

 

[cowgirl8]

Cowgirl, Are you saying when you band and miss one nut. And then after the one nut you did band falls off. Do you mean the other nut will just fall out? :bs: It's not happening. And the product might say hormone free but I don't know how that's possible any more.

What the heck is so hard to believe about that......The testicle left up in there is sitting on top of the band cut. If for some reason that band cut did not heal shut, there will be a slight opening. If the nut is heavy enough or the opening big enough to open more, that raw testicle will find its way out. You know there is this thing called gravity, what goes up, must come down. Ever have a hole in your pants pocket? Its not a big hole, but darned if your pocket knife didnt find its way out....like that..Happened the one time i did it the first year we started banding. Happened to my daughter too, because she didnt believe me either. So its really hard to believe that so many 'stags' are out there unless someone is doing it on purpose and does something different to make sure the nuts dont come tumbling out.

 

[TexasBred]

I personally do not pay much attention to it all, or know the whole criteria for raising and processing the 100% organic food. But I do know that they feel "earlier puberty, earlier menstruation, and several other issues in children are related to the hormones given to the animal products consumed." True or not, I do not know. Just sharing what I am seeing.

I can believe that. I have a niece that is trying to go "all natural or all organic". At least she thinks she is. Half the dairies in California use BST for increased milk production and use GMO feed ingredients. All California milk has added Vitamin A, D( d-activated animal sterol) and Vitamin E. Almost all vitamins are those good "Chinese" products. ;-)