What does every one do for castration

[Minelson]

Since I have a baby buckling now I'm going to have to make some decisions on how & when to castrate. I'm just wondering what everyone else does...banding? Neutering? I do have a vet that said he would neuter for me and I know he wouldn't charge me much. The Fias website says banding is inhumane...but others say it's not. Also...what age is this done at? Thanks!

[Tam319]

We band here. The earlier, the better as long as both testicles are dropped. We try to get it done before 3 weeks of age...new babies are just too wee for the elastic band to stay on. We have a piece of plexiglass that has a slit cut into it that we slide over the scrotum so both testicles are definitely away from the body, then slide the band over the scrotum, remove the plexiglass "guide" once you are sure both testes are in the sac, snug the band up as close to the body as possible and release the band. The afternoon we band the little gaffers cry but soon they are up and nursing and back to their antics. The testes then shrivel up, dry up and fall off. I'd recommend keeping an eye on the progress of the testes drying up and falling off. Every so often one might get a little raw and sore in that area and you will want to treat it before infection sets in.

[Rockytopsis]

I think it is all in how one looks at it as to what is or not it is inhumane. We band. I hold them and DH puts the band on them. I don't have a problem with it. However I am going to try to learn this year how to cut one. The lady who is going to teach me says. Slice the bottom of the sack and pull the testies out and it is done. So like I said one has to decide which is best for them. The older animals (6 months) that we have had to do, I get the vet out here.

[Feral Nature]

I started in goats many years back and would have the vet castrate them by knife and he would charge 2 dollars.

After i saw how VERY SIMPLE it was, it was not even worth the gas to haul them to the vet...even at that cheap price. So i started cutting them myself. it is really a simple procedure if you have the constitution for it.

I have done all the castrating since then (just ask my DH). I like to do it by 2 weeks of age as there is minimal blood loss or distress.

Last year, a neighboring goat lady brought her banding apparatis here and i banded a few. I HATED it! it seemed to be more distessing to them and it took forever for their manhoods to fall off. One remained with gunky testicles for a while and it was disturbing to me. They all did fine but I just did not care for how long it took.

This year, back to the knife.

[RiverPines]

We raise goats for our own dinner plate so paying some over priced vet is out!!

We are going with the banding at 3 weeks old. Seems the best since it has the lowest chance of infection compared to any kind of cutting and hopefully less painful.

From what I read some hurt for only a few minutes, some hurt for as much as an hour and some barely show any sign you did anything.

I know cutting will hurt for a long while period. So banding seems the best way that still gives you a weather and doesnt toss your money to another person.

[ozark_jewels]

I band my bucklings. Usually between 1 week to 1 month of age. Its easy, its effective and its quick. Just be sure to get *both* testicles inside the band, make sure both teats are outside the band and double check that after you are finished. If the weather is very warm, you may want to check it every couple of days and spray with something like Furrall. Usually not needed.
No matter how you castrate him, it will hurt for a little while. The banded bucklings act like it hurts a bit until it goes numb, then they can no longer feel it and go back to doing usual kid stuff.
Everyone thinks something someone else does is inhumane. Everyones got an opinion. Its never stopped me from banding my boys.
Make sure the vet isn't thinking of putting him under to do the surgery. Goats do *not* do anesthesia well and it can kill them unless the vet *really* knows goats.

[deafgoatlady]

I just do the banding. I feel safer to use banding. I do it my self. I dont want to spend money on the vet to come down or I go to him..

[Feral Nature]

Minelson, I wanted to add. Congrats again on your babies and it is great that you are going to castrate the little buckling. Too many people leave them bucks and then have problems with separating them from their sisters and mother. This way it is done early and your worries are over. Few bucklings will ever be good enough to be worthy sires.

[moonspinner]

Minelson, if your vet can do it for not much $ I'd go with that.
I band though I hate it. I have found the first two hours can be very rough on the little guys but after that I haven't found any who've taken it hard. You should keep an eye that the band doesn't slip and keep the area clean.
I'm going to try Distress Remedy this year and see if that doesn't alleviate the discomfort on the boys.
I do this procedure right before bedtime so they can go right off to sleep.

[HazyDay]

band him.

[dosthouhavemilk]

We started banding the end of the year before this past one and banded everyone this past year.

We used to have the vet cut them when he was burning them. Well, after we did a few years of leaving them intact (did not work in our set-up). We generally band around 8-9 weeks of age..after they have had their first CD/T shots.
We stopped the cutting because of cost and because we had a kid bleed out after the vet assistant had left. He came back and got it to stop, but that kid never did grow properly and we lost him that summer. Seemed we had quite a few bleeders that season. We have not had many issues with the banding, except for maybe one infection this year....that was out of over 25 bucks banded. A couple days of some mastitis tube squirted up there and he was good to go. That was one of the later kids...so he was done in the summer. Most are banded at the very beginning of Spring.

[DocM]

If it's going to live past meat age, then I wait one month to allow urethra development and band. I disbud bucklings between 2-6 days.

If it's going to be a meat goat and be butchered before 6 months, I don't band them anymore, I just keep them separate from the does. I don't disbud meat kids anymore either.

I've never, ever experienced a problem with banding, and I do not only mine, but most of the sheep and goats in my county. Literally a hundred or more a year.

[fcnubian]

We band.

[dezeeuwgoats]

I used to band. Now, I leave them intact and horned and start butchering at two months of age. For me, it is more of why bother stressing a meat animal. Plus it helps me stay firm in my resolve of keeping them for the freezer!

I used to band. I kept them around too long then - was lazy, and my meat cost too much in terms of milk lost and feed inputs. Banding didn't seem any more stressful than any other way of castrating. It is just not a fun thing.

Niki

[Backfourty,MI.]

Band him, it really only hurts fior a little while till it numbs, Then they act like normal little kids. I did my little bucks at 2 weeks last year & then of course everyone that called wanted bucks, by then they were already wethered! Oh well, it all worked out, we still have 1 of our wethers & he is the sweetest goat we have. Still thinks he can snuggle on your lap at 60 pounds!

[hoofinitnorth]

Lots of folks here band. I've been reading up on the burdizzo. I plan to talk to the vet and get their opinion and maybe have them castrate the first batch (hopefully they can teach me).

[waygr00vy]

I band my nigies at about 8 weeks. Like Doc M said, I like to give the urethra time to develop and less chance of stones....although I have heard many arguments about that issue as well. They are still plenty small enough by that age and it isn't too traumatic for them. Of course like Backfourty was saying, I have banded and then had people call wanting an intact buck! Another reason for me to wait until 8 weeks.

[Liese]

Studies done in Europe show banding to be a prolonged painful process - they tracked levels of chemicals in the blood that appear when someone is in pain- and that is why banding is disallowed in the EU. I use the Burdizzo, it is painful but of a much shorter duration: a day or 2 vs week(s). Those studies are available online for anyone to read if you care. We put the 2 month old boys up on the milk stand, give them some treats and get it over asap. The sheepy boys the same way but they yell much less.

[moonspinner]

I'm wondering about the studies done in Europe, if being applied to how humans feel pain, would apply the same to goats.
Although my banded boys are clearly in pain for a couple hours, I would question their level of discomfort after that. When they get up the next day they're eating/running/playing like normal. I highly doubt, even if the chemicals in their blood show a supposed pain level, that they really are. Goats in pain don't kick up their heels, play butting games, etc.
Just my experience in several years of wethering.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by moonspinner

I'm wondering about the studies done in Europe, if being applied to how humans feel pain, would apply the same to goats.
Although my banded boys are clearly in pain for a couple hours, I would question their level of discomfort after that. When they get up the next day they're eating/running/playing like normal. I highly doubt, even if the chemicals in their blood show a supposed pain level, that they really are. Goats in pain don't kick up their heels, play butting games, etc.
Just my experience in several years of wethering.

I have to agree with you. We all know that goats do *not* do pain well. In fact, they show it worse than any other animal I have ever owned. So I think I am probably in tune with my animals enough to know when one is in pain.
In the past years I have easily banded over 300 kids and 40 calves. Only one kid ever had a problem(my fault), and it was easily fixed. No problems with the calves at all.