since you want to cut your calf, ignore the naysayers and go ahead and cut him. i cut most of mine in may and june with plenty of flies for company and never have any trouble. i don't even know you and i would be willing to bet on you being successful at it. and you can even dispense with the scrubbing and scalpel because a sharp pocketknife is just fine for the job. since you asked for advice on how to do it (and so far haven't gotten it), i'll share my method with you:
i prefer to cut from the side with the calf standing. others prefer cutting from the back with someone holding the tail up, some prefer laying the calf down. cutting from the side with one foot tied back is safe and quick. it only takes one person to help you.
first, be sure that you can feel both nuts. if you can't feel both of them and/or can't get one of them to drop, you need to wait and try again later. once you are sure that the calf has both of them dropped, grab the sack at the bottom and twist it until you push the nuts up to the top and out of the way. with a sharp knife, now cut the bottom of the sack off below the nuts. this will be approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the sack. too much allows too big of an opening, too little doesn't allow drainage. twisting the sack usually gets it just about right.
when cutting the sack off, be careful that you don't cut across into the leg. the femoral artery runs down the inside of the leg and if you accidentally cut into it, your calf will likely bleed to death before you can stop it.
once the sack is removed, put your knife down because you are most likely through with it. grab one of the nuts (you might have to squeeze up above them to get them back down) and pull it down. wrap the cord around two fingers and continue to pull down. after you feel pressure on it, continue a steady pull until the cord pops. pulling the cords until they pop and snap back in instead of cutting them makes them bleed a lot less. now repeat for the second nut.
after you have both nuts out, be sure that nothing is left hanging below the sack. if any 'strings' are left hanging, pull them out also. you will probably have a little bit of blood still dripping at this time. that is normal and will usually clot fairly quickly. (in my experience, the sooner i quit messing with them and let them go to lay down, the quicker they stop bleeding.)
now you're ready to disinfect. i spray down everything that is open with 1% iodine. after the iodine, i then spray a fly spray on the wound and everywhere there is blood, all inside the legs. then i use a generic pour on ivermectin on the calf's back at the labeled rate. the ivermectin kicks in to control flies about the time that the fly spray wears off.
be sure he has plenty of fresh water and a clean place to lay down. your calf will probably be sore for a day or two and you will almost certainly see some swelling for a few days. this is normal and unless the swelling moves into the belly, you have nothing to worry about. if the swelling gets worse after a week or more, you will have an infection problem to deal with but that is not a big problem either and is very unlikely. we can deal with that if it happens, and it won't be a time-sensitive crisis, so don't worry about it now.
cut the calf and don't worry about it. i'll bet my money on you and the calf both being just fine.
i prefer to cut from the side with the calf standing. others prefer cutting from the back with someone holding the tail up, some prefer laying the calf down. cutting from the side with one foot tied back is safe and quick. it only takes one person to help you.
first, be sure that you can feel both nuts. if you can't feel both of them and/or can't get one of them to drop, you need to wait and try again later. once you are sure that the calf has both of them dropped, grab the sack at the bottom and twist it until you push the nuts up to the top and out of the way. with a sharp knife, now cut the bottom of the sack off below the nuts. this will be approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the sack. too much allows too big of an opening, too little doesn't allow drainage. twisting the sack usually gets it just about right.
when cutting the sack off, be careful that you don't cut across into the leg. the femoral artery runs down the inside of the leg and if you accidentally cut into it, your calf will likely bleed to death before you can stop it.
once the sack is removed, put your knife down because you are most likely through with it. grab one of the nuts (you might have to squeeze up above them to get them back down) and pull it down. wrap the cord around two fingers and continue to pull down. after you feel pressure on it, continue a steady pull until the cord pops. pulling the cords until they pop and snap back in instead of cutting them makes them bleed a lot less. now repeat for the second nut.
after you have both nuts out, be sure that nothing is left hanging below the sack. if any 'strings' are left hanging, pull them out also. you will probably have a little bit of blood still dripping at this time. that is normal and will usually clot fairly quickly. (in my experience, the sooner i quit messing with them and let them go to lay down, the quicker they stop bleeding.)
now you're ready to disinfect. i spray down everything that is open with 1% iodine. after the iodine, i then spray a fly spray on the wound and everywhere there is blood, all inside the legs. then i use a generic pour on ivermectin on the calf's back at the labeled rate. the ivermectin kicks in to control flies about the time that the fly spray wears off.
be sure he has plenty of fresh water and a clean place to lay down. your calf will probably be sore for a day or two and you will almost certainly see some swelling for a few days. this is normal and unless the swelling moves into the belly, you have nothing to worry about. if the swelling gets worse after a week or more, you will have an infection problem to deal with but that is not a big problem either and is very unlikely. we can deal with that if it happens, and it won't be a time-sensitive crisis, so don't worry about it now.
cut the calf and don't worry about it. i'll bet my money on you and the calf both being just fine.
