Surgical castration

Help Support CattleToday:

mhill

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Messages
76
Reaction score
0
Location
Eastern PA
Just cut all of my bull calves and noticed one this am that had swelling all the way up through his penis. Called vet and he said give him penicillin. Never had thisnhappen like this before. Any thoughts or comments appreciated.
 
any time there is an opening in the skin there is the distinct possibility of infection.

To me it is a wonder that half of them don't die.

I adopted the large animal bander when it became avaialble. My vet actually has three of them now and he does my castrations.
 
Cattle are tough. They can wall off infections in their chest (from wire or metal punching through their rumen) that would kill us or almost any other animal in hours or days tops.

As far as castration, the opened incision allows for drainage and is actually a good thing.
 
Some calves react differently. I have had many calves over the years swell all the way to the penis. Just watch him & make sure he doesn't act sick. We have ignored & never had a problem.
BTW - we have been surgically castrating for 40 years, and (knock on wood) have NEVER had one die or even get sick. I tail, hubby cuts. I'm not saying it CAN'T happen, just shouldn't. Keep things clean & make sure you chop off the bottom 1/3 of the sac so they can drain and they should be fine.
 
Could be yellowbelly. How old was the bull? You got to get them cut before they start humping. Hit it with antibiotics if it gets bad.
 
Some swelling is normal. I always cut a third to half of the sac off to allow for drainage and spray with iodine and fly spray. Never had a problem so far. Scraping the cords into instead of cutting will help with bleeding.
 

Latest posts

Top