First calf

[Hunter]

He was born on Dec 20th and both he and momma are doing great, so far.
I am very excited everything is good as he was sired by my uncle's limo bull who sired the heifer.
Glad he didn't come any earlier as the weather had been in the single digits the few days leading up the the 20th.

 

[Son of Butch]

Looks like they'll be fine. I'd castrate (band) him while you can still easily catch him. Never too early to do it as long as both testicles have descended into his sack... just make sure you count to 2 when banding.

 

[Hunter]

Looks like they'll be fine. I'd castrate (band) him while you can still easily catch him. Never too early to do it as long as both testicles have descended into his sack... just make sure you count to 2 when banding.

Is there a big advantage or disadvantage to doing it now or later?

 

[Son of Butch]

Yes, the younger they are the lower the stress. I prefer banding 4-8 weeks of age, but Purdue U says after they have a belly full of colostrum is fine. Bulls grow faster, but study done concluded all the early gains from remaining a bull are lost when castrated late and calves castrated younger actually surpass late castrated calves in performance after weaning and in the feedlot when implanted.
I can't say I've noticed a difference except the occasional calf that takes late castration really hard and drags down the average performance of the whole late castration group... especially if it dies, that really hurts the average.
I've never lost a calf from early castration, but I can't say that about bulls I've castrated late.

 

[uplandnut]

Good looking calf, glad there both doing well.

 

[Hunter]

SOB, thank you for the info. Thank you for the compliment upland. He was 2 days old in the first pic and they are both still doing great as of today.

 

[TCRanch]

Cute little duffer & his mama is definitely watching . We band day 1 or 2 with a shot of Covexin 8. On the occasion we miss (bad timing, cranky mama, etc) we cut when we work them around 3 months. Generally okay but occasionally we'll get one that doesn't handle it well - one step forward, two steps back. Good luck!