banded buckling

Mainelyhappy · #1 05/25/12, 08:54 PM

I had my good veterinarian out yesterday to inoculate my horse, check my doe and castrate my buckling. My husband has "issues" with banding, and I thought my vet could inject a local then do the deed. She would not We banded him. He is barely nursing. Any suggestions on what to do are more than welcome!

Daryl in ME

PNP Katahdins · #2 05/25/12, 09:06 PM

How old is he?

Peg

ozark_jewels · #3 05/25/12, 09:09 PM

Hmmm, I have always banded and have never had a buckling or bull calf act like he felt anything at all after a couple hours. That it is a day later and he is in pain is a concern.
Check to be sure both his teats are *above* the band. You can give him a shot of banamine for the pain.
Also, its a great time of year for pnuemonia(the first signs are usually lessened appetite), so be sure that is not what you are looking at. Timing could be coincedental or it could have been brought on by the stress of castration. That is possible. People tend to think you will see snot or heavy/constricted breathing with pnuemonia, but actually such obvious signs as those are rare and the case is likely very dire when they are present.
Take his temp also.

Backfourty,MI. · #4 05/25/12, 09:49 PM

I would check & make sure his teats aren't in the band & that the band isn't too close to the belly & pulling the belly skin & hair. Also check his temperature to make sure that is normal. If not like Ozark Jewels said it could be phneumonia.

Any other symptoms? Age of the buckling?

I've not had a problem banding any of mine before, usually they are fine with in a few hours & nursing like usual. Jumping around might not be as much until the next day.

Just curious as to why your vet wouldn't do the banding when you asked them too?

mrs.H · #5 05/26/12, 10:20 AM

"Just curious as to why your vet wouldn't do the banding when you asked them too?"
That is curious. Or just cut him if he wasn't familiar with banding?

Backfourty,MI. · #6 05/26/12, 11:51 AM

Hows your little guy feeling today? I hope he's all back to normal & you checked him out & everything was OK too.

gila_dog · #7 05/27/12, 08:27 AM

Why band him? What's in his future? I know people band bucklings they plan to eat or sell for meat at a young age. But most people who plan to keep them a long time (to use as pack goats, for example) wait until they are 6 months old or so and have them surgically castrated. That's so their urinary tract develops fully so they won't be as prone to urinary calculi (stones) later in life.

And to address your husband's concerns, a billy goat can be a nasty stinky thing with only one thing on his mind. And by 6 months of age they are already getting that way. If you want a buck for your goat herd then you should get one from somewhere else to avoid inbreeding.

Cliff · #8 05/27/12, 08:35 AM

She wanted the vet to give a local and cut him. The vet wouldn't.

Mainelyhappy · #9 05/27/12, 08:38 AM

Thanks. I gave him pain medication and he is better now. He was very miserable for about 48 hours. No fever, no nasal discharge. The vet DID do the banding, (there seems to have been some confusion there.) I had hoped she could do a local injection and then a "slice" castration, but she said using anesthesia on goats can be tricky. He is almost 8 weeks old. I am new to goats and have been told by several people to have him castrated around 6-8 weeks. Thanks again for the help and input. Daryl

Minelson · #10 05/27/12, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mainelyhappy

Thanks. I gave him pain medication and he is better now. He was very miserable for about 48 hours. No fever, no nasal discharge. The vet DID do the banding, (there seems to have been some confusion there.) I had hoped she could do a local injection and then a "slice" castration, but she said using anesthesia on goats can be tricky. He is almost 8 weeks old. I am new to goats and have been told by several people to have him castrated around 6-8 weeks. Thanks again for the help and input. Daryl

They are tricky with anesthesia so I opted for the banding too. And I did it at 8 weeks also. And I feel guilty as all get out over doing it to my poor little guy. I had the vet do it on Friday and he did use ladicane and I had given him Banamine before we left for the vet. He was pretty mopey yesterday but still eating. This morning he doing much better. I'm so glad yours is doing better now too!!

Backfourty,MI. · #11 05/27/12, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gila_dog

Why band him? What's in his future? I know people band bucklings they plan to eat or sell for meat at a young age. But most people who plan to keep them a long time (to use as pack goats, for example) wait until they are 6 months old or so and have them surgically castrated. That's so their urinary tract develops fully so they won't be as prone to urinary calculi (stones) later in life.

And to address your husband's concerns, a billy goat can be a nasty stinky thing with only one thing on his mind. And by 6 months of age they are already getting that way. If you want a buck for your goat herd then you should get one from somewhere else to avoid inbreeding.

Goats do not get urinary calculi from being banded, castrated, etc. They get urinary calculi mainly from their diet not being the proper calcium to phosphorus ratio. There are probably as many intact male goats that get UC as wethered males.