Curious as to how most of you castrate your buck kids?

Most of the people we know cut them with a knife...I'd rather band them like we do the calves, is this ok to do? Any reasons not to?

-- Tracy (zebella@mindspring.com), January 28, 2002

Answers

Here is how we do it.

We use two people, one sitting on a chair, or stool and one standing. The one standing holds the goat up by the hind legs with the underside facing the person who is sitting. So the people are facing each other and the person who is standing is holding the goat with his back to them. The person standing may be able to also control the head of the goat with his knees, or the head may be placed in a position where both parties can control the movement of the goats head.

At this point the goat is only curious, and usually calm. The sitting person then makes a quick cut, and gets a hold on the testicle pulling it out until the tubes leading to it break. The process is repeated on the other side. It is desirable to get at least a couple of inches of the tube with the testicle, because this promotes a better healing in the goats system. We then apply some powdered rosemary (the spice), which is a natural anteseptic...All done.

At this point the goat will be upset, and in my opinion needs to just be held until he feels safe again. This takes about 30 seconds, to calm him down. The whole operation takes less than 2 minutes, and we know it is done for keeps.

There is very little blood involved with this process, and we usually do the operation at 2 to 3 weeks of age.

Many people like to "band" for this procedure. I am of the opinion that the band causes pain every day that it is on the body of the goat, and has a chance of being dislodged. This might, and often does render the job a failure, or a one sided success which is still a failure.

-- Ed Copp (OH) (edcopp@yahoo.com), January 28, 2002.

We clamp ours with a burdizo. This alows them to be done at a later time(10-12 weeks) so they gain more muscle. No blood and safer than banding.

-- cindyf (cindy@tctc.com), January 28, 2002.

Dear Tracy,

A clean sharp knife is the best. A spritz of iodine afterwards will make YOU feel better. Bands were invented for squeemish humans, not for animal comfort. Crush type emasculators are cheap but not easy on the critter either. More animals get tetanus from banding than just about any other means. Face the fact that you are mutilating the animal, come to grips with it and eventually come to peace with that fact, and do it right. With a knfe you can do the job well in under 8 seconds, the animal feels nothing and the healing begins in 30 seconds. Band them and the blood loss and necrosis takes days to do YOUR job. If you don't like their balls, make it easy on the animal when you remove them. When you spend a day castrating and you have the blood on your hands and the pile of testis at your feet, you will feel something very profound. You might even feel weak or ill. That is as it should be. Castrating, like dehorning, like slaughtering should be faced head on with dignity and respect for the animal who is making the ultimate sacrifice for you. If you feel goofy afterwards then you are dong the right thing. It is their gift to you, not your right to mutilate and abuse. If you feel nothing after such a day, then you need to rethink your relationship with the animals who have agreed to sustain you.

Yikes, so sorry for the mild rant there, but I believe every word I wrote and believe me, I have been up to my chin in fries and splattered with blood for scores of seasons. I still am not so cavalier as to take it all for granted. Those of you who find a way to make tube crushing and banding work for you, my hat is off to you, but don't pretend that it is any less heinous a mutilation than just admitting to doing it and doing it face on.

Good luck.

Oscar

-- Oscar H. Will III (owill@mail.whittier.edu), January 28, 2002.

We band them. It's clean and simple and they only exhibit minor discomfort the first day afterward.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), January 28, 2002.

I crimp them with a burdizo. It's bloodless, so there is no open wound for infection to set in. Also, tetanus is not an issue. There is no chance band slips...you crimp and are done. Also, it is more environmentally friendly since there are no bands to be disposed of once they fall off. I have done all three methods and I prefer this one. I suppose, however, that it is a personal choice and all three have their pros and cons.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), January 28, 2002.

Like Mary, we band them. Their discomfort only lasts for a few hours...if that. It's quick and easy and as long as the tetanus shots are up to date there will be no problem!! And in 20 yrs. of banding, I've never had a band become "dislodged".

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), January 28, 2002.

I use a knife. They recover quickly, there's no danger of gangrene, but the foremost reason is that this way I KNOW I have got everything! I have acquired kids from people who had been raising and banding goats for years, and one of the 'wethers' still turned out to be a buck with one testicle.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 29, 2002.

Well said, Oscar. And I'm a person who pays the vet for full anesthesia for castrating!

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), January 29, 2002.

Tracy,

Band them. It is easy, quick and in most cases painless. I have had some boys throw themselves on the ground and act so silly....running over to mom to nurse and others I have banded went back to eating! It is the same band and tool used to band a lambs tail. In a few weeks they fall off.

One person can band if they are small enough that you can get them down and two people if the animal is huge!

The only struggle comes from the animal being restrained.

-- westbrook (westbrook_farms@yahoo.com), January 29, 2002.

We band our goats too, but they must have thier tetnus in thier system for a week or two since there is a very real danger of tetnus.

-- Ed Holt (goat@sssnet.com), January 29, 2002.

I'm curious now, why is there a higher chance of tetanus with banding rather than cutting them with a knife? I'd would have thought the open wound would be worse?

Speaking of, would you give them a shot of the tetanus antitoxin at the time of castration, or a tataus toxoid a week or so before?

-- Tracy (zebella@mindspring.com), January 29, 2002.

We band them and have never had a problem! Darlene

-- Darlene in W WA (tomdarsavy@cs.com), January 29, 2002.

Oscar, well said - your thoughts apply to hunting as well - THANKS

-- hmm (h.m.metheny@att.net), January 30, 2002.

i cut the bottom 1/3 of the sac of w/ a pair of very sharp scissors and pull the testicles out-cord comes with it. done in 30 seconds or less per animal-iodine, antibiotic ointment a couple of days, i've never lost one and it's easy to do by myself. didn't like the bands- they seemed to walk funny a couple of days. they are over the scissors in 1/2 hr or so-i give them a bottle as soon as i'm done, too, which helps me, if not them.

-- laura (okgoatgal@hotmail.com), April 03, 2002.