Castration

Hi, my Red Angus cow just gave birth to a little bull calf, and I can't remember when the best time to band the little bugger is. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. [FONT=Arial]Great site by the way. Also, how can I be sure that momma cow is producing enough milk, and do I need to be concerned about supplementing with bottled milk?

[Jena]

The best time to band him would be now, while he's little. Make sure you get them both or you'll have more trouble later.

Unless your cow has a very poor udder, poor nutrition or really bad genetics she ought to be able to feed her calf just fine.

Jena

[uncle Will in In.]

The smaller the calf, the easier it is for you to do. Getting both nuts below the band is important and also easy to flub up if you're not careful. I found that by releasing the handles, and allowing the band to tighten up while still on the pegs gives you an opportunity to take a little count before flipping the band off the pegs. If you missed one it's no problem to open back up and get it right.

[vtfarma]

We have found that the bulls grow bigger if you wait until they around 600 lbs. We have a head gate that we get them in. They are feisty but 10 months is about the latest we have found to be able do this. It allows the bull to produce that nice muscle mass in the meat.

If you wait that long you just have to be on your toes when you do it. One other thing to be aware of is the presence of flies. If you do it too late in the year when the flies are out you can have a maggot infested sack in the steers abdomen. Not a pleasant thing for him or you. We have a bigger castration bander (EZE Bloodless Castrator). Has worked well for us.

Good luck