Bull calves

[VHatch]

I am sorta new to the beef raising business and have a few new bull calves. Just wondering if anyone had some suggestions on steering these guys. How old and what method of castration should I use?
thanks for any replies...
:cboy:

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Welcome to the board. This question has been asked in various ways - many times. If you look at the very top of the page, you will find "search". Go there & type in castration - you should get more than enough answers to confuse you.
This is a very debated subject. Many have strong opinions, like myself. We castrate with a scapel & cut the testicles out. We do it at birth if we KNOW we want him a steer, we cut again at spring work up in April, and again prior to fall weaning.
If you decide to use banding method, be sure to give them a shot for tetanus.

 

[dj]

Welcome to the boards VHatch
http://cattletoday.com/forum/search.php?mode=results
You'll have a ton of reading at the above link

 

[dj]

I usually wait until the animal is almost too big to handle. You want to make sure those lil buggers are ripe for picking (If ya know what I mean) I put a nose ring on em and tie their back feet to their nose. Then I usually take a typical pair of "vise grips" tighten em down and far as you can- sit back and wait a few hours! They dont seem to mid much after the first few minutes. They might bellar at first. Don't let that stop ya. He'll caln down after a while. If ya got kids- bring them out to watch. It's educational and entertaining all at the same time!
Hope this helps.

:lol: Hitman before you had kids and needed the entertainment value, did you just stand them on their head and bite'm off? This method works better after they weigh 350-400 lbs.

 

[VHatch]

Is this true what "hitman" is suggesting?

Depends on how frisky I was feeling! Everyonce in a while I'd get real creative. Ya know whats real fun? I always brand my cattle. So why not brand em and castrate em at the same time? ;-) Have someone help ya hold em upside down and brand away!

 

[ALACOWMAN]

some wait later to take advantage of the testosterone instead of implants.its a tradeoff i guess catrate and implants after birth or band and tetanus shot later. the latter can be more stressful on um

 

[Alice]

some wait later to take advantage of the testosterone instead of implants.its a tradeoff i guess catrate and implants after birth or band and tetanus shot later. the latter can be more stressful on um

We always banded and gave them tetanus shots and vaccinated them when they were moved from the individual pens into the larger common areas...when they began eating about 2 lbs of feed a day. And it's true, some did go off their feed for a few days because of the stress, so we had to watch them pretty closely.

Alice

 

[Gale Seddon]

I usually wait until the animal is almost too big to handle. You want to make sure those lil buggers are ripe for picking (If ya know what I mean) I put a nose ring on em and tie their back feet to their nose. Then I usually take a typical pair of "vise grips" tighten em down and far as you can- sit back and wait a few hours! They dont seem to mid much after the first few minutes. They might bellar at first. Don't let that stop ya. He'll caln down after a while. If ya got kids- bring them out to watch. It's educational and entertaining all at the same time!
Hope this helps.

Does anyone else find this "method" cruel and inhumane? Educational and entertaining for your children? Personally, I think you are one sick and sorry individual and I feel really sorry for your cows (and your children).

 

[glover36]

we usually pinch ours around 400-450 doesnt take very long lol i am egussing vice grips take a while lol

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I usually wait until the animal is almost too big to handle. You want to make sure those lil buggers are ripe for picking (If ya know what I mean) I put a nose ring on em and tie their back feet to their nose. Then I usually take a typical pair of "vise grips" tighten em down and far as you can- sit back and wait a few hours! They dont seem to mid much after the first few minutes. They might bellar at first. Don't let that stop ya. He'll caln down after a while. If ya got kids- bring them out to watch. It's educational and entertaining all at the same time!
Hope this helps.

Does anyone else find this "method" cruel and inhumane? Educational and entertaining for your children? Personally, I think you are one sick and sorry individual and I feel really sorry for your cows (and your children).

I usually dont read every post i guess i need too. but probably some goofa$$ peta member

 

[Ryan]

I usually wait until the animal is almost too big to handle. You want to make sure those lil buggers are ripe for picking (If ya know what I mean) I put a nose ring on em and tie their back feet to their nose. Then I usually take a typical pair of "vise grips" tighten em down and far as you can- sit back and wait a few hours! They dont seem to mid much after the first few minutes. They might bellar at first. Don't let that stop ya. He'll caln down after a while. If ya got kids- bring them out to watch. It's educational and entertaining all at the same time!
Hope this helps.

Does anyone else find this "method" cruel and inhumane? Educational and entertaining for your children? Personally, I think you are one sick and sorry individual and I feel really sorry for your cows (and your children).

I was thinking the same thing... pretty sick... I think ALACOWMAN is probably right

 

[Aero]

it's really discouraging how a educational/informational tool like this board has to turn into a string of personal attacks.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Hitman - are you really Alec Baldwin or Paul McCartney??

Maybe you are Pamela Anderson?

Are you TTCLM on an acid trip??

Should your handle really be shitehead?

What secret branch of P.E.T.A. are you a member of?

VHatch, listen to Jeanne and dj, gonna come down to your preference in your situation.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Oops, read down further down the board, Hitman is Princess Fatu Kone from Abdijan Kotex

My apologies.

:lol: :lol:

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Well, I reckon a few have objected to the Hitman's choice of words and I don't think I would have posted that it was "entertaining" for the kids, but if you're going to have farm & ranch kids there sure isn't anything wrong with giving them an education about all the facets of the business, including castration. Hitman, what's with this "sit back and wait a few hours" --- is that really what you do or was that a failed attempt at humor? If you don't want to cut or band them why don't you just buy a Burdizzo like many thousands of cattle raisers have used over the years? Sure seems like the Burdizzo would be inexpensive and a lot quicker, easier and more humane to use than vise grips to get a good crimp.

 

[Alice]

Oops, read down further down the board, Hitman is Princess Fatu Kone from Abdijan Kotex

My apologies.

:lol: :lol:

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I love it!

Alice

 

[Roadapple]

And there's not the least bit of stress on the calf, afterall it's just a few hours. And it does get the kids away from their X-boxes and out in the fresh air. Duct tape a couple of cats tails together and throw them over the clothes line. The kids will really get a kick out of that. Let's see, what else can we do for entertainment?

 

[Scotty]

If you can take them to a vet.

 

[Double R Ranch]

Unbelievable. :roll:

We band all bull calves at birth. If we decide we need a bull there are plenty of quality bull breeders out there with lines that don't include mine.
We have not seen any stress due to banding. All the steer calves grow better than the heifers. We have them on good feed and have good cows. We also have not had anyone hurt (human), nor any cattle die due to blood loss or stress. They seem to not be aware of what has happened. No tail waggin or anything. Get right up and nurse.
It is easy for me to do while checking the herd. We have found it to be the easiest for our ranch. Hope this helps a bit. Keep in mind that you need to do what ever works best for you and your herd. We have lost friends over banding but to us it works. Our cattle seem to be better because of it.

RR

 

[ctlbaron]

I usually band at a couple of weeks old.