[Zoobec]

Hi, I have 2 goats, which I bought from a breeder last year, they were born may 2013. They are twins, and the male was banded for castration before I viewed them. However, he has a large scrotum and I'm wondering if maybe the castration didn't work, as far as I know he was banded at less than a week old. The other goat is female, and there has been no sign of any kids thankfully, but he is starting to smell a bit like an uncastrated male and he quite frequently sprays himself and tries to mount her.

Has anyone any advice on this please? I don't know if this is normal as these are my first goats.

[fiestyredhead331]

oh crikey 

well if he was banded properly there shouldn't be much of a scrotum if any. As for mounting, all my kids are doing that just now, even the girls 
safest thing all round is to get your vet to check and if he is still intact they can do a quick snip with a local anaesthetic and job done, we had to do one of our lambs last year who we were told had been banded when infact he developed a cracking set!
fingers crossed he hasn't been successful with his sister  but if she develops an udder......

[Zoobec]

Thankyou for that, I think it is as I feared then, it seems like he is most likely still intact. I'll have to give the vet a call and get him checked out. It might explain his occasional stroppy behaviour too!

[fiestyredhead331]

you're welcome, better to be safe than sorry, let us know what happens

[Sbom]

Might be worth getting the girl checked out aswell because if he was banded he shouldn't have anything visible at all and she may very well be in kid.
It's easy enough to check the boy yourself, you'll soon feel if he's intact!

[Zoobec]

Yes I'll get them both checked out. He isn't keen on the idea of me squishing his scrotum! But they look very full to me   ringing the vets now.

[Anke]

A male goat that was castrated by ringing at less than a week old should NOT smell nor spray himself. They also don't seem to have a very "male" head, as in a much weaker forehead, and usually not much beard growth. They do look more like the girls (minus the udder obviously).

If he has been mounting his sister - and she let him - she will most likely be in kid. I wouldn't panic just yet, if you wanted to breed from her anyway, and she will be about 2 years when she kids, then although it's probably best not to breed from any offspring she can of course be milked and her offspring will make a great curry.

Only issue is that you won't know when she would be due, so if he is castrated now (I don't know if you will need to keep them separated for some time thereafter or if the snip renders him infertile straight away) then max time would be 5 months.

Maybe not buy from this breeder again, either is completely in-experienced or has successfully off-loaded an unwanted billy kid... (were the disbudded? - if yes vet should have done it at disbudding anyway).

[cuckoo]

I had a male kid castrated by my vet at the end of July - using the crushing method - apparently the sac should have started to shrivel up by now - I will be taking him back for a free re go and will ask for it to be done surgically to make sure!

[Zoobec]

Oh dear, he definitely looks like a Billy, they aren't disbudded and he has a fantastic pair of horns and a long beard now too. No I wouldn't go back to that breeder, the female had lice when she came and also came down with coccidiosis a couple of days after I got them. I'm waiting for the vet to ring me back.

[Zoobec]

So, an update, he had one huge testicle! He's been surgically castrated this afternoon and seems to be fine so far touch wood. He's had anti tetanus and a long acting antibiotic too.
As he is 18 months old now, has anyone got experience of late castration, and if so did their behaviour calm down, and did the smell/spraying subside?
He isn't badly behaved, but is sometimes a bit bolshy, and hormonal!

[Roxy]

Sounds like whoever castrated him was not careful enough.  I was told by an old farmer how to check both balls were definitely down, and banded.  Had an iffy one this year, and had to snip the band and redo, to be on the safe side!!

He may still act like an intact male, for a little while, especially with females being in season at this time of year, but at least he cannot do any damage now, and he should not smell!!

[Zoobec]

Yes, I thought that! That's good to know, thanks

[Anke]

Just make sure he has very clean bedding for the next few days until the wound is well healed over. And no jumping hurdles/fences etc...

Good that you got it sorted - is his sister in kid or not? Or still waiting?

[Zoobec]

They've got clean shavings down today. Not sure on his sister yet, waiting on that one!

[Zoobec]

So, his sister is in season at the moment, phew!