Calf Testicles not decending

[inyati13]

I have tried three times to band a calf born Friday. Each time, I found no testicles in the scrotum. I got one to come down but when I lost grip on it, it just went right back up. I band on the first or second day but not going to happen on this one until he decides to let his balls down. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Give it a few weeks to a month. They should be where you expect them to be by then

 

[snake67]

There are ways to do this but you are not ready

So ........

Relax - they will come in time

You worry abouyt all the wrong things

My best

Bez

 

[inyati13]

There are ways to do this but you are not ready

So ........

Relax - they will come in time

You worry abouyt all the wrong things

My best

Bez

Now I am really concerned. You and I joined cattle today on Dec 17, 2011. How about that???

 

[dun]

You and I joined cattle today on Dec 17, 2011. How about that???

In reality Bez first joined Jun 01, 2004

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

:lol: Yes, Bez is one of our "re-incarnated" ones - but, he has never been "hiding" as a newbie. He's always been Bez!

 

[inyati13]

Banded him today. Put a rope around his front feet, tied that to a rail in the enclosure, and finally got both little balls down. But they wanted to go back up. I squeezed off the scrotum about the balls with my left hand, slipped the stretched band up to where I was squeezing his scrotum, released the band, while still holding the scrotum, I used my right hand to make sure the cheerio was coming off where I wanted it (just above the testicles). It went real well inspite of spermatic cord wanting to pull them back up in the inguinal canal.

 

[dennisford]

I thought that banding a calf so young may lead to water belly as a feed lot steer caused by the uretha nt fully developing.

 

[dun]

I thought that banding a calf so young may lead to water belly as a feed lot steer caused by the uretha nt fully developing.

That;s a new one to me.

 

[inyati13]

I thought that banding a calf so young may lead to water belly as a feed lot steer caused by the uretha nt fully developing.

Urethra not involved in where the band is placed.

 

[Howdyjabo]

thats a huge problem with goats and some sheep.
Calves generally are big enough that their urethra at birth is bigger than the crystals. So its rare to have issues with banding at birth.

If feedlot calves have problems its generally a feed issue.

 

[inyati13]

thats a huge problem with goats and some sheep.
Calves generally are big enough that their urethra at birth is bigger than the crystals. So its rare to have issues with banding at birth.

If feedlot calves have problems its generally a feed issue.

Would you please provide more information? I would not have thought that what you do to the scrotum during banding would affect the urethra. The vas deferens, spermatic cord, and circulatory network emanate from the testicles and of those the vas deferens empty into the urethra, but I would never have been concerned that banding the scrotum above the testicles would lead to a problem in the urethra. Unless, you are talking about swelling at the site of the band and the swelling going up into the urethra. When you say crystals, are you using that as a word for testicles, as in family jewels? Explain what the relative size of the testicles and urethra have to do with it.

 

[dun]

thats a huge problem with goats and some sheep.
Calves generally are big enough that their urethra at birth is bigger than the crystals. So its rare to have issues with banding at birth.

If feedlot calves have problems its generally a feed issue.

Would you please provide more information? I would not have thought that what you do to the scrotum during banding would affect the urethra. The vas deferens, spermatic cord, and circulatory network emanate from the testicles and of those the vas deferens empty into the urethra, but I would never have been concerned that banding the scrotum above the testicles would lead to a problem in the urethra. Unless, you are talking about swelling at the site of the band and the swelling going up into the urethra. When you say crystals, are you using that as a word for testicles, as in family jewels? Explain what the relative size of the testicles and urethra have to do with it.

By crystals I think the reference is to urinary calculi.
We banded a couple of dozen buck kids a year and never had any issues with it. The urinary calculi are much more common in breeding age bucks. Could be because the wethers were eaten by the time they were a couple of months old unlike the bucks that stayed around for years.

 

[inyati13]

Ok, urinary calculi. Are they some sort of "stone" as in kidney or gall stones, that are calcium or something of that nature. Thanks dun.

 

[dun]

Ok, urinary calculi. Are they some sort of "stone" as in kidney or gall stones, that are calcium or something of that nature. Thanks dun.

In goats and range maggots they're usually calcium. Don;t know about kidney stones but gall stones are hardened gall/bile, not calcium. And they're really pretty when polished to a high sheen.

 

[angie1]

I thought that banding a calf so young may lead to water belly as a feed lot steer caused by the uretha nt fully developing.

That;s a new one to me.

I had to have a hereford weanling calf euthanized for this very same thing, and vet attributed it to banding so young. Said if it is caught soon enough that surgery can be done to fix it, but it was misdiagnosed the day before (by the same vet).

 

[inyati13]

I thought that banding a calf so young may lead to water belly as a feed lot steer caused by the uretha nt fully developing.

That;s a new one to me.

I had to have a hereford weanling calf euthanized for this very same thing, and vet attributed it to banding so young. Said if it is caught soon enough that surgery can be done to fix it, but it was misdiagnosed the day before (by the same vet).

Asking for an explaination here. I have a thrist to know not just the what can happen but need to know the why it happens. Someone [who knows, may require a person with vet experience], explain the nature of the condition that is created by banding a calf too young. I have always understood it was better for the calf to be banded early. Maybe we also need to define too early. Lucky_P or milkmaid, come to my call of duty.

 

[randiliana]

That is a new one to me too. Not something that they warn you about, that is for sure (like Tetanus for example). In this part of our province waterbelly can be a problem, depending on where you are. Right around were we are it is not an issue, calves almost never have problems, go about 15 miles south and it is a different story, you'll see it in about 1-2% of the calves that come out of there. Nobody is exactly sure what causes it, but they figure it is one of the grasses or plants that they eat, and the vast majority of those calves are knife cut at branding, when they are 2-3 months old. All of our calves are banded within 24 hours of birth and we've never had a problem...

 

[inyati13]

That is a new one to me too. Not something that they warn you about, that is for sure (like Tetanus for example). In this part of our province waterbelly can be a problem, depending on where you are. Right around were we are it is not an issue, calves almost never have problems, go about 15 miles south and it is a different story, you'll see it in about 1-2% of the calves that come out of there. Nobody is exactly sure what causes it, but they figure it is one of the grasses or plants that they eat, and the vast majority of those calves are knife cut at branding, when they are 2-3 months old. All of our calves are banded within 24 hours of birth and we've never had a problem...

Same here.

 

[chippie]

Wethers (goats) have problems when banded young and the urethra stays small. Certain grain mixes will cause the urinary calculi (stones). Horse feed is among the worst. The urethra is too small for the crystals or stones to pass. Been there, done that. Learned the lesson.

Why the big rush to band the calf? I think that I would have waited until the testes were fully down and so that you don't have to fight to get the testes.