[JoeMac]

Hello All ,

  My lambs have started appearing over the last few days (Hampshire Downs mostly) with a good mix of ewes and rams born .I have fitted the bands for their tails with no problems .However I am having trouble doing the same for castration .They don't seem to have dropped very well on all of my rams and seems quite hard to wok them down into the scrotum and keep them their while I get the band over .I'm typing this with my legs crossed .Has anyone got any tips on how to do this a little easier please .

 Many Thanks

  Joe

[andywalt]

I had the same problem but have now got the knack !!

I find that its best to hold the lamb on its back on your thighs while kneeling.... open the band and put over the purse, pull the purse through........then run ur other hand down help the little nuts into the purse...at the same time closing the band, so when they are both in close it and pop off the band from the applicator, it took me 3 or 4 before I got the hang of it

hop that helps

[andywalt]

I forgot the other thing, dont put the band on too high over the two nipples that are there.....evedently that can cause problems, so the band should sit above the two nipples, sometimes I saw I had the band too high so you need to pull it down before releasing the band.  and of cause have a knife ready if it all gos wrong so you can cut the band if needed.

[Hardfeather]

so the band should sit above the two nipples,

I don't know about anyone else, but I find that quite confusing.

The band must be set on below the nipples, as in when the lamb is on its feet.

[ellisr]

Ryeland ram lambs never drop until it is too late and it is impossible to ease the little blighters down, especially the premature ram lamb I have. Luckily this year so far it is only 1 ram lamb last year it was all ram lambs and I managed to castrate all but 2.
The nipples are very close to the testicles and you must make sure they are not caught in the band when you release it. I assume that andywalt castrates the same as I do on my knees with head towards me and butt towards the ground so the band is below the nipples when put on correctly

[andywalt]

yup thats right, Im not the best at explaining accurately with text !!

[Rosemary]

I don't castrate mine at all. I'm not convinced there is any need.

[Cinderhills]

We did the first year with our Ryelands but the second year my husband just couldn't get the hang of it and so we left it.  We are so glad we did as he grew much bigger with his balls intact.

[ellisr]

I have noticed that with the ryelands the 2 I didn't manage to do are bigger than the others and seem to have better condition even after a horrid couple of seasons

[Rosemary]

My tup is the same age as my wether and he's much bigger. My tup lambs went at 7 months last year, off grass, at 52kg liveweight. In our set-up, I don't think it's necessary and it's just additional stress for the lambs.

[ellisr]

because of the very dry weather last year here ours didn't grow as fast as normal but they will go as hogget this spring and one ram will be kept  as I will be getting a few girls for him

[shep53]

Well done andywalt i think it was a good explanation if we say the rubber ring should be between the teats and the testes is it clearer. I would make one point once you have closed the ring check both testes are still in sometimes one slips back when the ring is closing only when sure both are in can you remove the pliers.

[andywalt]

yes shep53 thanks with that addition yes much clearer

[woollyval]

Its necessary only in certain situations.....for example if you have primitives they often cannot be killed for meat until well into their second year....therefore a whole load of horned entire rams can be problematic unless you can put them somewhere well out of harms way.

I have just got a ewe who had apparently not been anywhere near a ram......she has just lambed!

My son works for the National Trust in N Devon and they are freedom food label....which demands no castration. One of their x bred meat lambs escaped just before going for slaughter last year......result.....he managed to tup half their pedigree Jacob flock in under 2 days!...........

So yes if born early so away to butcher by Julyish, fort knox fencing, not primitive etc etc you can leave them BUT......beware!

[Madcow]

oh dear, even I as a female have my legs crossed, we dont do our ram lambs as we are luck enough to be able to spilt them into two groups the boys with dad and the girls with mums till its time to go to the place of no return