The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: tommytink on March 09, 2020, 10:32:33 pm
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After originally thinking we were going to leave our males entire, with all the rain and what it’s done to the land etc we’ve decided it would be better to band them so we don’t have to worry where to put them.
So it says must be done before seven days. Had a go yesterday and today but although I can feel his little knackers there’s no give in them to get them into the scrotum. When we did this on a course they had a dead lamb to practice on and they said find them and work them downwards into the sac. Obviously a dead lamb is a lot more relaxed than a live lamb as little rammy was keeping them tucked up tight.
I’ve watched videos and read the procedure but not much help if the things won’t move. Should they drop down a bit more say in a couple of days?
Or are there any tricks to getting them to move??
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We no longer band ours as we can't catch the wee devils any more - Mr F used to run them down with a rugby tackle in his younger days - that's Hebs for you. Depending on the breed and the size of their testes, some are easy to do within the 7 days, some are impossible. Tiny breeds such as Soay really can't be done for about 2 to 3 weeks.
For tricks, we found that the more you fiddle about, the less likely you are to get the band on. We find that if you scoop up the lamb with his underarms hanging over your forearm, with his back legs hanging down and his body pointing away from yours, press two fingers down just above the sac and snap on the ring, all in one movement, and off he goes, then it works. If you don't do it quickly then don't bother that day, because he'll retract them and keep them up there. If when you check afterwards they are not in the sac after all, then cut the ring off quickly as it will hurt him. The scissors on a Swiss Army knife work fine.
Incidentally, banding scrotums and tails in wet muddy weather gives a higher risk of infection than leaving them unbanded.
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Castration is one of those management jobs that can cause a lot of pain and injury if done incorrectly, so I’d suggest either finding a friendly farmer to come show you how to do it or ask your vet to come help for the first one. Mr Twizzel castrates everything here... I hold them by the front legs and let their back legs hang down, then he puts a ring on when he is sure both stones are there. It’s not easy though.
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Depending on the breed and the size of their testes, some are easy to do within the 7 days, some are impossible. Tiny breeds such as Soay really can't be done for about 2 to 3 weeks.
For tricks, we found that the more you fiddle about, the less likely you are to get the band on.
If you don't do it quickly then don't bother that day, because he'll retract them and keep them up there. If when you check afterwards they are not in the sac after all, then cut the ring off quickly as it will hurt him. The scissors on a Swiss Army knife work fine.
Incidentally, banding scrotums and tails in wet muddy weather gives a higher risk of infection than leaving them unbanded.
Yup, exactly the advice I would give, although I do understand your reasons for thinking you would band this year.
Ram lambs aren't an issue until around 3-4 months old, so an alternative approach might be to accept that if you do have problems ekeing out your grass later in the year, the boys will have to go to the store mart. But even though the ground looks awful now, you will be surprised how the grass will grow, so you may find you have no issue keeping the boys and tups in a group from midsummer onwards.
But if you do want to do them, then yes take twiz' advice and get a vet or a farmer to show you how to do it - but not yet, wait until the balls are in the sac when you pick them up.
it does get easier with practise; I've done thousands now and am pretty comfortable and confident with it all. But it's quite hard when you're starting : you don't want to get it wrong, so are a bit hesitant, then the lamb picks that up and sucks 'em back into his stomach, and so it goes. Always check you have two stones after you release the device from the scrotum, and never ever try it without a blade or scissors you can cut the ring off with. Even I, with all my experience, get the occasional tiny primitive testicle that snuck back up as I closed the ring and have to cut the ring off.
I find that my primitive types are not ready before about day 5, and a few go a day or two over the 7 days. The Heb crosses I had were all not ready by day 7. Big fat commercial types can be banded as soon as they've had a feed if you really want; I prefer to give them 36 hours if it's possible.
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I’m pretty sure of the theory, it’s just getting hold of the things!
I am planning to keep my ram separate from now on. Wanted to wether one of the lambs to keep with him. So I guess ram lambs could go in with him? Im worried about fights?
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Ram lambs tend not to pick on something twice as big and strong and they only spar between them selves