Neutering

[JayinCT]

ok, I'm new to some of this and have been asking several questions about my Pygmy's. The next one is as follows: This year's males are now 4 months old. Did I wait too long to neuter them and not have them at risk?

Jay

[suzyhomemaker09]

A friend neutered one that I had that was about that age..seemed pretty simple as she used a razor blade like fits in a box cutter, made a very small incision and out popped those little marbles...sliced the cords and all was done, very little blood and we treated it with some topical antiseptic meds. He's healthy as can be now a few months later...

[JoyKelley]

take them to the vet, it isn't that expensive. I did it with mine , just a bit younger than yours and it was the smartest way to go

[starjj]

Is it too late to band them?

[GoldenWood Farm]

You should be still able to band them. I would NOT go to the vet as they charge you a outragious price for that sort of thing . It is really horrid. I band all my kids at around 3 months but mine are standard size and I am sure with a pygmy you can band them at 4 months. It is really easy to band. Some people are against it though. If I was you I would find a fellow goat person who knows how to band and have them help you.

MotherClucker

[JoyKelley]

Motherclucker, my vet only charged 50.00 and he gave them their tetnus shots as well. It didn't seem to be too big a price to pay after having such a horrible experience with my first banding.

[Mrs_stuart]

We took in one of our obers to have him cut and out vet only charged us $10...
We drove up,let the goat out (he was on a collar and leash), vet came out told us to hold him, cut,pulled cut cords, sprayed and was done...a few drops of blood...it happened so fast that my girls didnt even get to see what happened...We went inside, paid and left all in about 4 minutes.

I usually band mine but ours was about 4 months and we felt that over the heat of the summer, the flys and such that cutting him would have been better. We band ours at a few weeks old unless we are wanting them for meat then we have them cut at about 4 months.

The vet usually charges less if you take your goat to them. I would call them and ask how much...every vet is different and it might be cheap enough.

Good luck

Belinda

[GoldenWood Farm]

Yikes your lucky. We did two wethers..we disbudding and castrating and it cost a whopping $250 . And for me $50 is WAY to much to spend on just wethering a buck. It is much cheaper to do it your self and I have never had problems with banding neither has my friend in all her 20 years.

MotherClucker

[okgoatgal2]

i cut them with a pair of very sharp scissors that i clean with alcohol or iodine immediately before cutting. cut off 1/3 of the sack (make sure the testicles are pushed up out of the way) and then break the membrane, pull the testicles out, and spray w/antibiotic type stuff and send them on their merry way. i cut way earlier than 4 months, like when i disbud, but then i'm known for my weirdness. it takes maybe 45 seconds, and saves me money all around-and the dogs love the testicles.

[Laura Workman]

We-e-e-e-ll, I just castrated a 3-month-old buck last weekend, and I will NEVER do it again without an emasculator. I did it just like we do the little ones, which have never been any problem, but this guy had blood pulsing out until I could find the vessel, which had drawn back up into his body, and pinch it off with a hemostat. The other side wasn't quite as bad, but overall it took about 20 minutes of holding him and icing the area, with hemostats in place, for us to be able to take the hemostats off and not have him bleeding. Scary.

Young ones, like two weeks, no problem with a razor and proper technique. The older, more developed guys, well, you may be butchering earlier than you intended. Yeesh!