Bulls/Steers

kycn · #1 01/30/13, 05:54 PM

How do most people castrate their bulls? Banding, cutting, etc? At what age? What age can they start breeding? I was talking to a neighbor and telling him how I wanted to band 2 bulls and keep the other one to breed next fall (I thought they could breed around 8 months) and he said I had to wait three years before they would breed? That didn't seem correct to me so I thought I would throw it out on this message board.

Thoughts, opinions?

Oakshire_Farm · #2 01/30/13, 06:47 PM

I band my calves about 2-3 months. Some people do them younger! They can be done as soon as "the berries hit the basket" as for breeding, they are very much able to get a cow pregnant as early as 8 months. If they are tall enough, or can catch a cow in a divit, they can get the job done! I sure would not be feeding a bull for 3 to wait to breed him!

commonsense · #3 01/30/13, 07:29 PM

I have a Jersey bull who bred his first cow at 13 months of age...definitely didn't take him 3 years!

We usually band our bull calves between 3 and 5 months of age.

springvalley · #4 01/30/13, 08:08 PM

If we had to wait three years, I don`t think any of us would keep a bull. I band and cut bulls, depends on the situation at hand. > Thanks Marc

kycn · #5 01/30/13, 08:13 PM

Thanks for the info, it is confirming what I thought I knew.

Another part of this is a friend of mine might go in on more cows with me, he was doing some research and found information that said bulls gain weight faster, so he said we should keep them bulls longer. I have never heard of people doing this, I assume because it is too hard to manage multiple bulls. Anyone heard of this? Ideas?

commonsense · #6 01/30/13, 09:46 PM

I got the same information from my vet recently, that delaying castration can help with initial growth. Although he didn't give an exact timeframe, what I understood was that the advantage diminished after a certain point, maybe around the 6-month point?

topside1 · #7 01/31/13, 07:39 AM

Just did one yesterday (three weeks old)....Banding here, never a problem, one person job. Just get the calf on the ground, sit on him and get to work. topside

G. Seddon · #8 01/31/13, 08:08 AM

If you opt to band, vets recommend a tetanus shot 3 weeks before and a booster at the time of banding.

SpaceCadet12364 · #9 01/31/13, 10:35 AM

Just keep an eye on them if banding. If the band breaks you can loose them.I know it almost never happens but if you are unlucky and it does. you loose $. We wait till they about 6 mos. and cut That way we are sure they cannot breed.

opportunity · #10 01/31/13, 10:45 AM

We band have done it from day old to over a year old. Have had a few of the green bands break and have to redo them later so have mostly switched the caltrate bander it uses surgical tubing and a clamp much stronger

Hexe · #11 01/31/13, 02:33 PM

I usually castrate around 7-10 days old. In years past the calf sometimes was 2-3 months old, but I found that it turned out too much like a rodeo when they got that size. They are outside with their mothers and not very tame, therefore I get 'em when I can still outrun and out-muscle them... I guess if they were bottle calves it would be different.
Method: banding.

haypoint · #12 01/31/13, 02:40 PM

You can band while they are young. But if you delay too long, you have no choice but to band.
The Vet was correct, bulls will grow faster. But if you balance the small amount of extra gain against what the Vet will charge you to cut them, you'd be money ahead to just band them and be done with it.
Just do not forget, bulls have two and you need to "capture" both.

Callieslamb · #13 01/31/13, 03:51 PM

I have a unique method. I band them as soon as "the berries hit the basket" though that's the first time I've heard it called that. I'm at about 50% in success rate. That's 50% per calf. A few months later, I call the vet and have him clean up my mess. Sometimes he bands and sometimes he cuts depending on how bad of a banding job I did. I'm thinking of going to a shorter method where I just call the vet and he cuts. DH is absolutely no help with this process.

Topside, do you have any pictures of your method of sitting and banding? I can't quite picture it.

bigmudder77 · #14 01/31/13, 04:43 PM

Band ours usually once they are off milk and eating grain good we just halter and tie it to a post and work from behind just gotta know the signs of when there about to kick but out of all the ones I did Ionly got kicked at once

We once had bulls that were 15 months old that we had the vet come out and cut them they gave them a shot of sleepy stuff and got to work

And we had a jersey that had one breed at I think 10 months I'm not sure but the one he got was the same age and had a early calf did fine but small

kycrawler · #15 01/31/13, 05:59 PM

i have tried banding at a couple days a couple weeks and 3-400 lbs with a callicrate and a wadsworth xl banded i lost 2 calves out of a couple hundred

I have cut thousands of calves up to 8-900 lb bulls I will not band another calf I work at a sale barn and cut 60-100 head every week and my dad and i backround calves for a feedlot we cut probably 100 a month and dehorn 5-6 . run them in the chute have a helper tail them I cut 1/2 inch off the bottom of the bag pull the nuts out 1 at a time wrap the cord around your finger 3-4 times then pull down till it pulls out when both are done spray with iodine give tet antitoxin and about 3cc per cwt of penicillin and then turn them out maybe 1 out of 100 will get a little swelling havent lost any from the cutting method

oxhill · #16 01/31/13, 06:39 PM

I haven't done a lot but I like to crimp them. Less work than banding and not as messy as cutting. Plus flies are not an issue. I have been told that it isn't a sure thing but neither is a lot of peoples banding job. I have seen a lot of cattle that just had one testicle banded or even just the scrotum! I crimp each side separate and each side twice and haven't had an issue yet. Six to eight months seems good to me.