green cheerio bands

[tex452]

We don't band anymore.
All get the knife.

 

[gcreekrch]

Can you tell when they are that young that they will be getting horns, or are you using it to make sure they don't ?

I am answering for Silver but yes, you can feel actual horns at one day of age. Scurs are harder to determine.

 

[wbvs58]

I am answering for Silver but yes, you can feel actual horns at one day of age. Scours are harder to determine.

I would have thought scours would be more obvious Dave. Yeh I know what you mean, just having a bit of a dig at you.

Ken

 

[gcreekrch]

I would have thought scours would be more obvious Dave. Yeh I know what you mean, just having a bit of a dig at you.

Ken

Never noticed spell check was helping me!

Fixed!

 

[Buck Randall]

I was told it's better to get the steer a little older "3 months?" So the growth hormones can get established.
If's there's anything to this I'm not sure?

There's no truth to it. Intact males will grow faster, but the longer you leave them attached, the more it sets them back when you eventually castrate. If you castrate young and implant them, you get the best of both worlds, and it costs just over a dollar for the implant.

 

[Brute 23]

... and when you look at the studies on implants it shows they don't really pay unless you retain ownership well past weaning.

 

[Dave]

I have always been a knife guy myself. I have noticed that B bands probably 95% as day olds. Other neighbor cut all of theirs at branding. The Dad did all the cutting. By the end of the day he was pretty beat stomping down to cut 100+ calves. B suggested that they start banding to save on Dad. Unfortunately Dad passed away this winter. At their branding there was hardly any bulls. They were cut when tagged as day old calves.

 

[Silver]

I used to knife cut at birth for years. I only switched to the cheerio at birth because I move my pairs over 1/2 mile shortly after tagging and castrating. Always seemed the steers didn't want to travel very bad. I tried the bands and the difference was such that I put my knife away. I still don't like the look of a banded steer.

 

[Travlr]

Still can't get my head wrapped around the potential for flies from rotting testicles. Took two to have the vet cut at 6 weeks-they never even flinched. No flies, no stink. Guaranteed they're gone too

I've never seen a "rotting" testicle. They dry up and fall off. I use the bands to take the tails off of lambs, too. Dry up... fall off.

 

[Brute 23]

Here is the band a few days in. It is very clean although it looks odd.



I was told to treat castration like cutting hay. If it too wet to cut hay or there is rain in the forecast try to avoid it. I was also told to run a fly spray down their backs and it will keep the flies away until they are healed up. That is cutting or banding.

At around #300 we have been running them down the chute, vax, dehorn (very few), tag, band, spray, and match them up with momma for records... all in one shot. It has worked out really well far.

I hauled a load of cut steers for my dad a couple weeks ago and the auction barn guy actually wanted to argue with me about the being bulls or steers because of the loose skin left from cutting them. It was very frustrating and I told him to put them down a chute right now so he could feel or write in big letters on my ticket all steers. He did write it on the ticket after another guy chimed in for me.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Here is the band a few days in. It is very clean although it looks odd.

View attachment 15707

I was told to treat castration like cutting hay. If it too wet to cut hay or there is rain in the forecast try to avoid it. I was also told to run a fly spray down their backs and it will keep the flies away until they are healed up. That is cutting or banding.

At around #300 we have been running them down the chute, vax, dehorn (very few), tag, band, spray, and match them up with momma for records... all in one shot. It has worked out really well far.

I hauled a load of cut steers for my dad a couple weeks ago and the auction barn guy actually wanted to argue with me about the being bulls or steers because of the loose skin left from cutting them. It was very frustrating and I told him to put them down a chute right now so he could feel or write in big letters on my ticket all steers. He did write it on the ticket after another guy chimed in for me.

Thanks for posting the picture. I have only seen post-fall-off or pre, never during.

 

[Buck Randall]

... and when you look at the studies on implants it shows they don't really pay unless you retain ownership well past weaning.

I'm not sure what studies you're referencing, but implants for suckling calves will produce a bigger calf at weaning. If you're selling calves by the pound, they pay.

 

[SBMF 2015]

There's no truth to it. Intact males will grow faster, but the longer you leave them attached, the more it sets them back when you eventually castrate. If you castrate young and implant them, you get the best of both worlds, and it costs just over a dollar for the implant.

I had a packet buyer tell me that all we were doing was taking their nuts off and putting them back in their ear.
It sure works for us!

 

[Brute 23]

I'm not sure what studies you're referencing, but implants for suckling calves will produce a bigger calf at weaning. If you're selling calves by the pound, they pay.

If I remember the article correctly they compared no implants, implanta at birth, and receiving two implants.

Yes, there was a slight gain from birth to weaning. Yes, it did pay for for the implant but unless you were on a massive scale it was not enough to justify for some one selling straight off the cow or unless you a buyer paying a premium knowing you had implanted it.

The highest gains were from calves that received 2 implants, one early on and one at weaning. When you combined the slight gain from birth to weaning and the much larger gain from weaning on, a person could easily justify the two.

I forgot the details of when they gave the first one and how long you had to hold the calf after weaning. For some reason I didn't think it was all that long. I think it was trying to say if you were backgrounding your own calves it would pay for both.

 

[faster horses]

We don't band anymore.
All get the knife.

We quit using bands too.

 

[farmerjan]

We band, either the "cheerios" bands right away, but more often at tagging, vacc and turn out time. Then they get which ever band we think they need. They get tetanus then... better safe than sorry... cheap insurance.
We buy a fair number of 4-5 wt bull calves and if not weaned, they get weaned and back grounded and we make up some groups for sale. They all get banded and tetanus. No blood, no flies, no problems no matter the time of year. They get kept in the barn lot for at least 3 days... I check to make sure the sack is cold to the touch so it is "dead". They look like the picture that @Brute 23 posted.
We do not implant. I am not sold on the gain, and we have several that prefer "natural" cattle so why try to remember or figure out who was and was not. Plus, until we decide who we are keeping for replacement heifers, don't want anything to possibly cause problems with reproductive system.

 

[kenny thomas]

If I remember the article correctly they compared no implants, implanta at birth, and receiving two implants.

Yes, there was a slight gain from birth to weaning. Yes, it did pay for for the implant but unless you were on a massive scale it was not enough to justify for some one selling straight off the cow or unless you a buyer paying a premium knowing you had implanted it.

The highest gains were from calves that received 2 implants, one early on and one at weaning. When you combined the slight gain from birth to weaning and the much larger gain from weaning on, a person could easily justify the two.

I forgot the details of when they gave the first one and how long you had to hold the calf after weaning. For some reason I didn't think it was all that long. I think it was trying to say if you were backgrounding your own calves it would pay for both.

Remember most implants only last 90 days. Implant at birth, when they are vaccinated at 3 months, and when weaned. It will work. 1 implant will pay for itself but is hard to notice. 3 will be noticeable.