is castration worth the trouble?

[newblood]

well I,ve gotten 2 for 2 bull calves so far this year only 12 more to go. my first heard of cows, was wondering if it is really a big difference in pay off price by not castrating ?? sure wished old man winter would get on down the road.

 

[HerefordSire]

Are you going to try to castrate old man winter? :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[KMacGinley]

To answer your question. Yes

 

[newblood]

Boy, you two are real intelligent. thanks for the info. theirs a prime example of why are society castrates. don't need anymore of those genetics. :lol:

 

[msscamp]

well I,ve gotten 2 for 2 bull calves so far this year only 12 more to go. my first heard of cows, was wondering if it is really a big difference in pay off price by not castrating ?? sure wished old man winter would get on down the road.

The answer to this is going to depend on your location, and what the order buyers are looking for. Some areas dock due to the calves not being castrated, some areas don't. If I were you, I would call several salebarns in your area, talk to the oldtimers, and ask them. Something else you might want to think about is that it is not unheard of for a 6 month old bull calf to be mature sexually. Nor is it unheard of for a 5-6 month old heifer calf to be cycling, and capable of settling. Are you willing to take that risk to save a little trouble for you? That possibility alone makes castration worthwhile for me.

 

[brenda]

yea, its worth the trouble!

 

[jedstivers]

Its not any trouble on day old calves. If you are concerned about mama just put the calf in the back of the truck. I like box cutters too, they are always sharp and slide out and back in so less chance to cut yourself.

 

[CattleHand]

I agree with msscamp. Really depends on your location. Ive always seen it pay off. But the better question is can you be making more money with your time else where? Thats what its all about. if you got the spare time put in the extra work (ive never heard of steers being docked, worst case is they sell the same rate), if you dont have the spare time then it may not be worth you hiring it done depending on your area.

 

[kscowboy]

just a good practice, imagine if you have a neighbor with cows he/she might appreciate it too. Not that big a deal to band em while their little , think the tool and bands were less than 20 bucks.

 

[dun]

Ill be better able to tell you if it pays around here in a day or 2. We had kept a bull calf to use as a cleanup bull. He was a tremendous bull calf with great genetics. At 11 months he just turned completely to crap (in my eyes), all of the things that we liked about him just melted away. In the past couple of weeks he even started getting cow hocked. Shipped him and a nearly identical steer to the salebarn saturday. When the check comes in I'll know what the dock is for bulls.

 

[BC]

Here in Northeast Texas, we generally see $4 to $10 per cwt difference between bulls and steers on weights 500 lbs and up. Difference is greater in the late summer and fall. If selling below 400 lbs. not much difference but then again not enough lbs to make many dollars.

 

[grannysoo]

Trouble? I had my first bull calf of the year Saturday, and it took less than 30 seconds to band him. How much trouble is that?

Trouble is when those young bulls try to tear down every fence on the farm in order to get to the hot-to-trot cows :lol:

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Boy, you two are real intelligent. thanks for the info. theirs a prime example of why are society castrates. don't need anymore of those genetics. :lol:

We all enjoy a little humor on these boards. Go with the flow and enjoy the comments.
And, by the way, people living in Florida have no rights complaining about the winter. We had weather in the 30's last two days, and APPRECIATED the HEAT WAVE! :banana:
Don't know your market, but most generally we can answer that question as a YES. Unless you are a Purebred breeder and plan on selling breeding bulls, it is always better to castrate. The younger the better. We castrate with the knife, and research shows that it is the most economical way to castrate, but banding is a lot easier. Just remember, if you band you MUST give a shot for Tetenus (sp?). And, I just read that you need to give TWO shots of tetenus, and should NOT castrate until you give the 2nd shot :shock: Had never heard that before. Guess you better read the labels on the tetenus bottle.

 

[c farmer]

I have been banding for years and never give tetenus shots and never had a problem yet.

 

[dun]

I have been banding for years and never give tetenus shots and never had a problem yet.

Apparantly if you band young you don;t need it but do if they're bigger. I don;t know where the cut off is but since we band at a month or less it's kind of a moot point

 

[Limomike]

I did a test over the last two years, and found out around here, it definitely pays to castrate your bull calves. You will realize a cost increase of about .06 - .10 price per pound on each of them at the salebarn.
We also band our bull calves at birth, or at least as early as the 2nd day.

 

[cypressfarms]

if it is really a big difference in pay off price by not castrating ?? sure wished old man winter would get on down the road.

Yes. In our parts a banded steer will bring 5 - 10 cents more per pound than it's balled counterpart. That translates to a $50 difference on a 500 pound calf. Multiply that by the number of calves you have, and you'll have a startling loss if you do nothing. How you do it is your business. I band, but I don't want to start a fight on banding vs cutting for the 843 time.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I band, but I don't want to start a fight on banding vs cutting for the 843 time.

Why not

Banding works well for me. It is too easy. Occasionally I do have to cut one.

It all boils down to what works best for each individual.

Bulls out of a commercial herd are destined. There is no need to evaluate them. Band them at new born and be done with it. We all want to get the most nickels from the sale.

 

[Cowdirt]

I have been banding for years and never give tetenus shots and never had a problem yet.

I've banded calves ranging from birth to 6wks old from 1991-2007 and never given tetanus shots, never had a band to fail to do it's job. Simple process with good results if done correctly. Last couple of yrs. I work alone so I'm leaving them bulls. May take a little hit on price but now-a-days if I'm going to continue cow/calf route, I have to keep things as simple as possible.

 

[Limomike]

I have been banding for years and never give tetenus shots and never had a problem yet.

I've banded calves ranging from birth to 6wks old from 1991-2007 and never given tetanus shots, never had a band to fail to do it's job. Simple process with good results if done correctly. Last couple of yrs. I work alone so I'm leaving them bulls. May take a little hit on price but now-a-days if I'm going to continue cow/calf route, I have to keep things as simple as possible.

Cowdirt, if you are working alone, why do you say you are going to leave them as bulls? Guess I dont understand. I work alone when I am banding a calf also... only have help when working my cattle or calves to give shots, load, or unload or dehorn.