Will banding help take out the "BULL"

[TSYORK]

Getting a couple of freshley dropped Holstein bulls to raise for beef. I'm going to band them, but I wonder will banding take most of the "bull" out of them?

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by TSYORK

Getting a couple of freshley dropped Holstein bulls to raise for beef. I'm going to band them, but I wonder will banding take most of the "bull" out of them?

Yep.

It will take their minds off of a** and on to grass...........

[agmantoo]

Provided you can count to 2. Make certain the 2 are on the correct side of the band

[TSYORK]

I can count to two... If I count to one the first time, I'll practice again!

Thanks,

Originally Posted by agmantoo

Provided you can count to 2. Make certain the 2 are on the correct side of the band

[travlnusa]

If by Dropped you mean born, you will need to wait a bit to band them.

If you mean both have dropped, band away

[TSYORK]

Dropped= born

How long should i wait to band?

Originally Posted by travlnusa

If by Dropped you mean born, you will need to wait a bit to band them.

If you mean both have dropped, band away

[Rickydink]

I have raised 3 Holstein bull calves and banded them at 2-3 weeks. If you wait longer they are hard to handle. And yes make sure you have both testes in the band. Our last steer was named #83 from the auction tag he had. He was a sweetheart and gentle as a lamb.

http://webpages.charter.net/rwclark/

Rick

[agmantoo]

I band when they are a couple of days old. If they have not dropped I just grope around and work them down. Seriously, you do need to verify you have 2 below the band before you release the band. For the inexperienced you can take a piece of plastic about 1/8 inch thick and the size of a playing card and cut a 3/8 inch slot about 1/2 across the piece and use that to slide onto the scrotum at the belly to hold everything in place until the count is taken and the band applied.

[Tango]

Since the majority of calves I've raised have either been purchased at sale or brought to me with some birthing disadvantage that has caused mom to reject them, I wait until they are eating well, gaining weight, and past the scouring stage. Four weeks has been the youngest. I give them a tetanus anti-toxin at the same time (does anyone else do this for bottle calves?) and vaccinate with alpha 7. At this age, they are still pretty calm and I can band myself if I chose to.

[francismilker]

I also wait until they are about a month old. And, I also ALWAYS give a tetanus shot while banding.

[annie716]

Don't wait to long, we had a couple of jersey bull calves last year and the older one was over a month old and he never got over his bulliness! We ended up butchering them @ a year old because they were to dangerous to have around the grandchildren.

[agmantoo]

Bottle calves are accustomed to being handled. For beef calves it is an altogether different situation. Past a week old, catching and holding a beef calf raised by momma can present problems unless you are a cowboy.