New castration band on the market?

[cowbellbecky]

Has anyone tried these? Looks pretty easy..
http://www.zipbandit.com

 

[Son of Butch]

$30 for 10 bands!
I guess if you've never castrated before or only had a few head to do each year.
The calf on the right was small enough to still be able to use the little cheerio bands.

Thanks for posting Cowbell

 

[True Grit Farms]

I like it, looks really easy to make.

 

[M.Magis]

That's what I thought, just a zip tie with some surgical tubing and a couple hog rings. It would seem the flat shape would be uncomfortable for the animal, but I'm just guessing.

 

[greatgerts]

Nowhere did it say how long it would take for the nuts to fall off. Also, with bands, as the sack starts to shrivel up, the band keeps tightening down. This would not happen with this product. Wouldn't there be more risk of infection involved?

 

[True Grit Farms]

Nowhere did it say how long it would take for the nuts to fall off. Also, with bands, as the sack starts to shrivel up, the band keeps tightening down. This would not happen with this product. Wouldn't there be more risk of infection involved?

Your missing how these bands are made.

 

[bird dog]

I'm skeptical I guess because I bought some calves once and one had nuts swollen about the size of a softball. I got the poor fellow in the chute and someone had used a zip tie on him. $3 a piece does seem a little expensive.

 

[BRYANT]

slit the bottom of the sack on them big calves and they will fall of a lot faster, like a couple weeks. If I band big calves, which I don't like to do, I keep a pair of ear notching pliers with me and clip a drain in each side, fast and works great.

 

[Farm Fence Solutions]

New member....first post.....gimmicky product link.....things that make you go hmmm. Should we be cautiously optimistic, or optimistically cautious? Welcome to the forum, cowbellbecky.

 

[greybeard]

New member....first post.....gimmicky product link.....things that make you go hmmm. Should we be cautiously optimistic, or optimistically cautious? Welcome to the forum, cowbellbecky.

Seeing more and more of that on internet boards recently..and especially on CT. People seem to be registering from parts unknown (like them Mexican masked wrestlers) for the sole purpose of just making a single goofy and irrelevant 'drive by' comment then never to be seen or heard from by modern man again...others to pimp a product or service, ONCE and then disappear. Are they getting paid for this somehow?

 

[callmefence]

New member....first post.....gimmicky product link.....things that make you go hmmm. Should we be cautiously optimistic, or optimistically cautious? Welcome to the forum, cowbellbecky.

Seeing more and more of that on internet boards recently..and especially on CT. People seem to be registering from parts unknown (like them Mexican masked wrestlers) for the sole purpose of just making a single goofy and irrelevant 'drive by' comment then never to be seen or heard from by modern man again...others to pimp a product or service, ONCE and then disappear. Are they getting paid for this somehow?

Look at the zip bander . I picture a family sitting at the table with a bag of zip ties and a roll of surgical tubing cranking these things out. The eleven year old at the computer dropping adds all over social media trying to get the little bit of profit from hobby farmers before the mineral companies get it.

 

[greybeard]

They have a fb page it seems, tho I can't see much of it for the ad wanting me to log on or start a fb account.
https://www.facebook.com/ZipBandit/

 

[Farm Fence Solutions]

New member....first post.....gimmicky product link.....things that make you go hmmm. Should we be cautiously optimistic, or optimistically cautious? Welcome to the forum, cowbellbecky.

Seeing more and more of that on internet boards recently..and especially on CT. People seem to be registering from parts unknown (like them Mexican masked wrestlers) for the sole purpose of just making a single goofy and irrelevant 'drive by' comment then never to be seen or heard from by modern man again...others to pimp a product or service, ONCE and then disappear. Are they getting paid for this somehow?

There are services that charge to bombard the internet with advertising media.....I get calls from them everyday. I like to be in control of what is said about our products, and I like to interact directly with potential customers, so we don't employ any of those services. While I like discussing what we do, I'm here for the social aspect more than anything.

 

[cowbellbecky]

I'm curious to know if anyone out there has tried them actually? And what was your experience?
I called them and the guy said they haven't any swelling issues other than the normal swelling when you band, he said depending on the size it would take about a few weeks for them to actually fall off and the bigger the size the sooner they drop. It seems like it'd be easier than the California bander because you wouldn't have to have the other hand held piece... Anyway i think I'm going to order some....I'll get back on how they worked for our farm.

 

[True Grit Farms]

I'm curious to know if anyone out there has tried them actually? And what was your experience?
I called them and the guy said they haven't any swelling issues other than the normal swelling when you band, he said depending on the size it would take about a few weeks for them to actually fall off and the bigger the size the sooner they drop. It seems like it'd be easier than the California bander because you wouldn't have to have the other hand held piece... Anyway i think I'm going to order some....I'll get back on how they worked for our farm.

I'm looking forward to hearing about your results. The California bander isn't as easy to use as it looks like in the youtube video.

 

[farmerjan]

It will be interesting to hear what your opinion of them is. We use both the "cheerios" bands when little; and the bigger "calicrate" bander for bulls with some size. Yes the bands are $3.00 ea. We have had only 1 break in over 10 years. We have NEVER had a calf get swollen nuts or infection. In half an hour they are back to eating like nothing ever happened to them. I keep them around the barn for a couple days, get them back in and if the sack is getting cold, that is good, which means no blood flow which means we did it right. We have cut the sack off after a week or so, or just let it fall off which will take a few weeks to 2 months...they are all different.
And yes they get a tetanus shot. Cheap insurance too.

 

[M.Magis]

I've not had any trouble with the California bander. It only takes a few seconds and they walk out of the chute and go right back to grazing.

 

[ddd75]

It will be interesting to hear what your opinion of them is. We use both the "cheerios" bands when little; and the bigger "calicrate" bander for bulls with some size. Yes the bands are $3.00 ea. We have had only 1 break in over 10 years. We have NEVER had a calf get swollen nuts or infection. In half an hour they are back to eating like nothing ever happened to them. I keep them around the barn for a couple days, get them back in and if the sack is getting cold, that is good, which means no blood flow which means we did it right. We have cut the sack off after a week or so, or just let it fall off which will take a few weeks to 2 months...they are all different.
And yes they get a tetanus shot. Cheap insurance too.

same here.



I don't see how this zip tie works.. I have to crank the crap out of my callicrate and its TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT.... like.. holy crap thats hurting my balls its so tight.

Not sure how you'd be able to get this that tight.

 

[BRYANT]

It will be interesting to hear what your opinion of them is. We use both the "cheerios" bands when little; and the bigger "calicrate" bander for bulls with some size. Yes the bands are $3.00 ea. We have had only 1 break in over 10 years. We have NEVER had a calf get swollen nuts or infection. In half an hour they are back to eating like nothing ever happened to them. I keep them around the barn for a couple days, get them back in and if the sack is getting cold, that is good, which means no blood flow which means we did it right. We have cut the sack off after a week or so, or just let it fall off which will take a few weeks to 2 months...they are all different.
And yes they get a tetanus shot. Cheap insurance too.

am I reading this right you run them through the shoot 3 times just to castrate
1) to place the band. 2) to check to see if the sack is getting cold. 3) to cut sack off after a week or so.

 

[farmerjan]

No we don't necessarily run them through the chute 3 times. 1) to band and get the tetanus shot. Then I usually keep them at the barn lot for a couple of days. They are eating at the trough and I can walk behind and look/and feel if the sack is colder than the body temp. If they look swollen or any problem, yes they go back in the chute. Have had 2 that I was concerned about in maybe the last 10 years or maybe 6-700 bandings. But, I do like to keep a close eye on them JUST IN CASE. Losing one calf cuz I was in a hurry to kick it out is just not prudent in my opinion. Yes, if we decide to cut the sack off then they go back through the chute... Something that we have found; that getting them to go up the alley into the chute and out again, helps to make them less upset and quieter to work with. I do not want to deal with crazy cattle. These calves will go to pasture and not be in an enclosed pen for months at a time. When we do go to work them, they remember that we are not the bad guys, that a pen is not going to kill them, that us calling them means something good, and most of all, momma says this is a good place to be so okay, we will go with her.
We don't cut the sack off unless we are planning to sell them soon, and don't want that smelly thing hanging off them. But usually, they just fall off whenever....

So one definite trip in the chute, then it's optional....