# castrating my goat



## erin_1977 (Mar 21, 2012)

I have a goat, he is about 3 to 4 months old. Is he too old to use a band to castrate him? He is going to be a pet, so I don't want to deal with a stinky billy goat. Thank you for any information..


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## KrisD (May 26, 2011)

I personally feel that 4 months Is too old to band, but that is just me.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I've seem then banded at that age with no problems.
Many say have a Vet do it when they are that old


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I personally would not band them at 3-4 months old. I usually band any bucklings between 6 & 8 weeks depending on how big their sack is at the time.

I think I would have a vet cut him but just my personal opinion.


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## erin_1977 (Mar 21, 2012)

Yes, I think we will just take a trip to the vet.. I don't want to cause him any more pain then has to be.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I think he's probly pretty big at 3-4 months old. Even my nigerians & mini nubians are getting pretty good size usually by 6-8 weeks old already depending on the buckling.
The vet's a good idea in this case but just my opinion.


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

I did my fellow at 10 weeks. He's very tame and I stood at his head and fed him treats , reached over, lifted a hind leg and my friend handled the bander. He walked off as if nothing happened. 
I think we might have used the next size up band from what you would use on a newborn goat, but I'd have to see if I wrote it down somewhere to be sure.


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## Ranger (Aug 6, 2010)

My vote would be for the vet, but, then, I am a sissy about that sort of thing. lol


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## RedSonja (May 16, 2010)

I would say have a vet do it at that age, too. I band at 6 to 8 weeks, about time to do that to the first buckling born here this year.

-Sonja


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

One of the worst things I've seen the aftermath of was a cut castration done by a vet. The 'wether' was in bad shape for about a week. He lived, but man did he hurt. No anesthesia, and the vet never asked if the owner wanted anesthesia. I know if I ever need an adult casterated (most of the time, we casterate older animals with a .22, but they're usually not 'pets'.  ) I'll not be taking it to that vet. It was summer, too, so there were flies. Owner ended up putting one of her kid's unmatched socks on the swollen remains of his sack, and that kept the flies out at least. 

I'd rather band at that age. 

Also when touring the beef cattle research barn at MSU, the man there claimed he never cuts or emasculates... always bands. They don't go off their feed or look ouchy except for a few hours, whereas the other methods hurt like the dikens for days, and when a steer is off feed it's money lost. There is a bander made that tightens the band to every specific individual, so circulation is cut off and pain is minimal. It's a big cow size instrument but I just saw in a goat catalog recently an ad for one for sheep/goats, and may make the investment. I often band castrate my week old kids, and they do show signs of discomfort for a day or two, but it's because the sac is so small the band cannot cut off all the circulation.


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## April (Nov 28, 2006)

Burdizzo is still an option at 3 to 4 months.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

I've never liked the idea of the burdizzo/emasculator because there's a chance you don't do it right. And you don't know if you do it right for months until the testicles shrink. That's what I've heard, at least.


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## Laura Workman (May 10, 2002)

I did burdizzo for the first time last year. No failures, and SO much better than cutting, which is what I used to do because it was kinder than banding. I am very much in favor of the burdizzo now.


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## thaiblue12 (Feb 14, 2007)

I have had all three methods done and the burdizzo is my least favorite and causes the most pain as far as them screaming and walking funny for a while. Plus it is hard to know if it took and really hard for me to get a good line across it. I have trouble thinking pinching something's skin that hard is the most humane way to do it. 

I have had one done by a vet, he was knocked out, it was not fly season and he never missed a meal and acted fine. But it is not cost effective. 

Banding I now give some Banamine 30 mins before hand, they do well with this way, no real laying around or crying. I also am doing it at 4-6 weeks instead of 6-8, they seem to mind it less if the testies are smaller. I do not do it to them before 4 weeks old since my vet does say the urethra needs 4 weeks to develop well. 

I have banded 6 month olds for a lady who sold them as wethers, about an hour before the buyers showed up, just using my regular bander, the green cheerios and popping them in the band one at a time. I did not like doing it at that age but I got them in there. I gave them some pain killer right before, so I hope it worked for them. 

If the vet is not cost effective, get some painkiller from him, use it 30 mins before hand and then band him, do it sooner then later because they will just keep right on growing


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## Laura Workman (May 10, 2002)

Well, I gotta say I'd rather have a part of me pinched hard than have a rubber band wrapped around it and kept there until the part dropped off, but it could be that's just me.  And I'd also rather have a hard pinch than have surgery without anesthetic, which is what I did before the burdizzo. It's hard to bleed to death from a pinch. I never lost a kid from surgery, but it looked chancy a couple of times.

The burdizzo tool is kind of big and hard to grip, for sure. (Maybe that took Premier sells, a copy of the Ritchie Nipper, would be better?) It's also pretty tricky to make certain that slippery little cord stays between the jaws, but if you do it right, doing each side twice, and staggering the lines, it works great. They seemed a little sore to me, but nothing like with surgery, and there was no rolling on the ground in pain, like with banding, and no danger of tetanus, like with banding an older kid.


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

I don't know LJ, as a kid I wrapped a rubber band around my finger (and watched it turn color, my cousin did it and then stuck a pin it it to show the feeling was gone - I think we all did that as kids) ~ it felt weird but didn't hurt.

I've cut myself with a scalpel. That doesn't hurt at all for a few minutes. It doesn't hurt till the cut skin rubs on something. Now, being cut with a dull knife hurts like all get out, but disposable scalpels are all of .69 cents. Some super glue keeps the cut skin from rubbing and there's really no pain then.

And I've pinched skin pretty good. Hard enough to make the pinched bit fall off once. That hurt like Hades, I wince remembering it. And it hurt for days.

So I go with a band or a scalpel, myself.


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## April (Nov 28, 2006)

I've done both bands and burdizzo and I don't use anything but the burdizzo any more. You do have to know what you're doing, but that goes for just about anything. You can feel the cord in there so it's not hard to figure out.


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## The Hard Way (Mar 26, 2012)

We band all the time, and always wait till the bucklings are at least 3 months old. I have lost 2 bucklings a couple of years ago due to UC when we used to band between birth and one month.
No problems with UC since. We just banded 7 bucklings yesterday, all boer and boer nuby cross.


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## Lada (Jun 7, 2008)

If you can fit them in the bander, then he's not too old. I prefer banding as well. No blood, and I know for a fact it's done, unlike with the burdizzo. Plus all the feeling is gone to the area within a few hours. I know a "pinch point" injury is really painful, I can't imagine what it would feel like to a dude's nads.


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