Castration of young Males

[TAdkins]

When is the best time to castrate a young male, and what is the best and safest method. Thanks

[Rosarybeads]

I also band mine, at 2 days to a week, I have found if you wait any longer it is more painful for them. You have to make sure both testicles are in the sac, you can feel them pretty easily. Then you won't make a mistake, if they are in there, they are goners. The banding seems very safe, never heard of any problems with it. It dries up and falls off, and there is no blood. They usually lay around for a couple of hours and then they are fine.

[Freeholder]

I've banded, and done surgical castration, and while I still have my elastrator and bands, I prefer to do it surgically. When you do it depends on how long you expect the wether to live. If he's going for meat before he's a year old, you can probably do him just as soon as both testicles are down. If he's going to be around for (hopefully) many years as a pet or draft or pack animal, then it might be a good idea to wait until he's several months or even a year or two old. The diameter of the urethra pretty much stops growing when they are castrated, making early-castrated wethers more likely to fall prey to urinary calculi. Also, if he's going to be used for draft or packing, he'll grow bigger and stronger if he's left a buck for a while. The smell and most of the obnoxious behaviors should disappear a few weeks after castrating.

Kathleen