Author Topic: advice please castration bands !! (Read 11916 times)

Anke · « **Reply #15 on:** January 23, 2011, 09:05:12 pm »

By law you CANNOT use a rubber band to castrate them, after 7 days of age! If they haven't dropped you have to leave them intact and separate from the females before they are becoming active.

andywalt · « **Reply #16 on:** January 23, 2011, 10:06:01 pm »

I have tomorrow the 7th day

lachlanandmarcus · « **Reply #17 on:** January 24, 2011, 05:13:27 pm »

I had to leave one of ours uncastrated last year as I just wasnt happy I had got it right with the bands, he was born with big horns and big everything but somehow the balls didnt seem to work with the band.

He went off yesterday with 4 castrated boys to the abbatoir, its not the best time of year to send them but I got fed up of him trashing the fences and charging me! (they are shetlands so normally left another few months before they go off). So recommend sending them maybe Oct time of the year they are born rather than waiting as I did if you have any entire, have learned my lesson!

I went on a lambing course at local agric college so could practice castration with the rings, would recommend it, we practiced on dead casualty lambs. Also got vet to do the first couple and watch me doing it. Still nerve wracking but I can do it myself now with reasonable confidence.

waterhouse · « **Reply #18 on:** January 24, 2011, 06:42:53 pm »

The two entire lamsb we sent off last year had grown the fastest of all of them.

andywalt · « **Reply #19 on:** January 24, 2011, 07:42:34 pm »

The others have been fine, but this one the balls are right at the top and dont seem to want to be encouraged down !!!

Anke · « **Reply #20 on:** January 24, 2011, 08:55:35 pm »

If you plan to sell these for Easter(?), there is no need to worry about it! They will be gone long before they become active.

It is different with smaller/traditional breeds - my shetland males don't go until their second autumn, so they need to be done, otherwise they would be just too much fighting.

andywalt · « **Reply #21 on:** January 24, 2011, 10:53:11 pm »

I suppose the vet could always come, give a local and whip them out at some stage later in the year, I may have to do it that way, they wont be going to the abbattoir until end of the year and im restricted with space so I wont be able to keep it seperate.

Anke · « **Reply #22 on:** January 25, 2011, 09:44:55 am »

They might actually be too fat by the end of the year, and you might get a reduced price. They want lean lambs of around 45 to max 50kgs liveweight (up here anyway) for autumn lambs, but I would have thought Easter lambs sell well at a lower weight.