???Castrating older buck

[CountryWannabe]

OK. I have a 2 year old Nubian buck that tested as G6S carrier. He is a sweet guy, so I don't really want to feed him to the dogs. On the other hand, I don't want him breeding the does, either, and he is a handy-dandy escape artist. Is there an easy, relatively painless way to castrate him at this age? My vet doesn't want to anesthetise him to do it "while he is out", and I am told that using the bands at his age can be really painful and downright dangerous . I am in a dilemma. He would make a good teaser and a good carter if he were "fixed". Heck, I would be happy to keep him even as a pet. I just don't want to have to test every kid produced "just in case". Any and all suggestions would be gratefully recieved

Mary

[hoofinitnorth]

Your vet can do a "standing castration". This just means he gives a local, rather than a general. Lydocaine is something I've heard used in three specific areas around the testes. You can also use a general like banamine that won't knock them out but will help take the edge off.

Two tips they probably already know (that no one told me until after I did my own castrations at home on two young boys):

Clamping the area where the break is made helps to minimize blood loss until it clots and using cold packs will help numb the area and keep it from swelling are helpful.

We did it in late summer so we moved our boys to a pen on the lawn so shavings wouldn't get into the scrotal incision. They healed nicely. We don't have the insect problems many other places do (even locally), though.

Good luck!

[farmmom]

You could also use a Smart Bander. It is approved for goats, but recently I castrated a 600 lb bull with it. It worked great.

[KayJay]

Last fall I had a 1 1/2 year old buck castrated by the vet, they used local anesthetic and cut him while he was held down. Everything went well with it and it cost me all of $35 including a CD&T shot. Just recently I had a 3 year old buck done by the vet also, he was quite a bit bigger (150lbs) and had to be brought inside the vet's office cause it was so cold outside, so she decided to sedate him just a bit. All worked out fine with him too and he only cost $25 with the cd&t.

[CountryWannabe]

Thank you, guys. As I said - my vet doesn't want to do him. He is not really a livestock vet - the ones he sees are more pets. There is no-one else around that I can ask. I will check out the Smart Bander.

Mary

[GoatGoddess]

My husband insisted we wether our 4 year old buck. I refused to have anything to do with the proceedure. Poor baby looked so sad when I got back home...