[shropshire_blue]

The vet came today to castrate our bull.  I was expecting a bit of a surgical procedure, but he just made two slits with a stanley knife blade, popped them out and yanked them off.  All done in about 30 seconds.


The poor wee man looks very sorry for himself now...

[Factotum]

Is it just me? I have this mental picture of all the blokes on here crossing their legs and wincing...

Poor bull, what did he do to deserve such treatment?

Sue

[Berkshire Boy]

That bought a tear to my eye and his I expect.    Shropshire blue how old was he.

[Mammyshaz]

Boys!!    Don't get stung by the thought of this  procedure. Castration is as basic as it gets for a surgical procedure 

Try being the female with the equivalent     there is NO comparison for Man nor beast!

[shropshire_blue]

He is 7 months.  The reason for the snip is that we don't have proper handling facilities for a bull (he's jersey/BB and the advice we got was that dairy bulls can get a bit nasty.  Also we have his sister as well.  She has started bulling and we didn't want any teenage pregnancy.  She spent an hour licking his balls one day.  You should have seen the look on his face - sheer bliss.


He seems to have recovered fine, and I sold a canoe to the vet, so it was definitely worth the call out fee!

[Deere]

Haha,

It does make you stand a bit cross legged when the vets there doing that! 

We tend to castrate them as calves now with a ring, although there was a two week old one the vet did with a huge pair of pliers/grips as it was too old for a ring.

The worrying part for me was that my fiancée is a vet nurse at his practise and there's been a couple of staff about to leave on maternity and he was threatening me with some treatment!!   

Tim

[Blackmyre]

one the vet did with a huge pair of pliers/grips

That'll be a Burdizzo. It crushes the blood vessels supplying the testicles, which then shrink and die:


Closed casteration in goat by burdizzo

[Ladygrey]

what are the rules surrounding the burdizzo?
Does a vet have to use it or would the cattle owner be allowed?

[Blackmyre]

Good question, but I'm afraid I don't know the answer. We use Elastrator rings, which seem to be fairly straightforward. That said, I have heard of cases where the procedure wasn't completely successful.


How did the wartime song go? I think it started: "Hitler, has only got..."

[Ladygrey]

lol so you can use rings on calves? I have tried to look up rings but cant find anything :S,

do they work the same way as lamb rings?

[Sbom]

Ringing a calf is much the same as doing a lamb, if you can easily do a lamb then a calf should be no problem. The Burdizzo can be used by any competent person with strong arms as it can be abit of a tussle......

[SallyintNorth]

We very occasionally use rings on very young calves - yes, just like ringing a lamb.  As long as you check you have two testicles fully ensnared, just as you would with a lamb, it's fine - but does only work very early on (or the calf and its testicles are too large) and needs a strong person to restrain the calf. 

Our normal practice is the burdizzo at 2-3 months old.  The calf's early growth is unchecked, and frankly we rarely if ever see any problems clamping them this way.

However, it requires quite a bit of strength and a great deal of technique.  When BH's wrist was injured we had a number of people help us with this task - and have had a few vet bills subsequently, correcting incomplete castrations.

If for any reason we don't get to the lads with the burdizzos by 3 months old, then it's a vet job - slit, pull - just as s_b had done.  The lads certainly feel a bit sorry for themselves for a day or two after that job.

[omnipeasant]

I totaly agree about jersey bulls being the worse for aggression. Seems odd doesn't it when the cows are so kind. Even with part bred jerseys you need your wits about you!!

I think the surgical castration is kinder than buduzzios. We used the latter in the past and their bits used to swell up to a painful looking size. We always use rings now.

[ecogeorge]

Use a rubber ring -very quick and easy. Think the time limit may be 7 days from birth. Sit the calf up and make sure 2 testicles are in the sack before you release the ring. Far easier than lambs who have a habbit of not dropping one testicle.
rgds George.

[funkyfish]

Surgical castration is great- if the vet gives the local time to work! Had to go out to a farm to drive the vet back to the practice as he had a head injury from being kicked- served him right! Local takes 20mins to work not 3 seconds!