# Burdizzo bloodless emasculator for yearling goats...



## StockDogLovr (Apr 13, 2009)

I'm wondering if anyone has used the Burdizzo for older animals, and if they encountered any problems. My friend has year old bucks that NEED to be castrated since she's got does together with bucks and doesn't need unplanned breedings. These are pet types, so she can't seem to let go of them, and since she won't/can't separate everyone, they need to get castrated.

By the time she gets her act together to haul these guys to UC Davis 100 miles away for surgical castration, it will be months down the line and more unwanted pregnancies later. She doesn't have her own vehicle capable of transporting them.

I have a Burdizzo which I have used on an older ram lamb (about 6 mo. old) successfully. Okay, so I only did one clamp each side and missed on one testical and had to redo it, but the second time worked perfectly, and if anything the lamb had an easier time of it the second time. It would be so easy to just do some clamps on her bucks and be done with it. However, she called her goat vet about using it and he scared her with the potentially bad consequences of doing it on these older animals - stronger blood vessels not clamping off completely, so more bleeding and swelling of the scrotum, infection...

I said, what infection? It's bloodless! Anyway, hit me with your worst-case experiences and convince me that the Burdizzo is the wrong thing to do. I want actual experiences, not just what you've heard could be the problem.

TIA!


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## thaiblue12 (Feb 14, 2007)

Well I'll tell you what my vet told me which is not my experience but years and years of his own experience.... He will not do that on a goat without the goat being numbed up or knocked out after the time they are too big to fit in a band. Since it they are larger, it is more painful and risky on the older ones. He also sends you home with Banamine because it will continue to hurt later. So I guess my vet agrees with her vet. I trust this vet as he never tries to take me for extra money, allows me to buy meds without seeing the goat, etc so I do trust him to be right about this.

My personal experience is unless you have the hand strength to do it and know you did it well, do not do it. I tried this on a friend's 5 month old wether and I could not crush the cords on both sides well. He also screamed so badly we could not stand it! 
I have seen sheep testies and they look softer and the cords more easy to get to than goats. Goats sacs are pretty hard and if the testies are higher up there is little area to work in to crush the cords.

Since they are a year old I suggest she ask her vet if he will numb them up and cut them. If she will not do that for a while then she needs to build them their own pen till she gets it taken care of.

This is about banding but it shows the possible bad effects of castrating an older buck/buckling http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=365679
She received bad advice and might now end up with a large vet bill or a dead buckling. 
I would never cut a yearling and hope for a good outcome. There are reasons it is done young or done by a vet when older.


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## mylala (Jun 3, 2008)

I've done it on about a 4 month old and it went well. They were substantially larger than the 3 wks old I have done. Why not just cut them out yourself, instead of driving 100 miles? Iodine the sack up, make small incision, pop out teste, pull till it separates, pop out second teste through same hole,and pull, saturate with iodine, and blood stop. The goat will be fine.


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