Age for Castration for Goats

[FarmGuru]

Hi
What is ideal age for castration of buck which are bred for meat ?

What is the ideal weight for castration ?

Regards

 

[20kidsonhill]

We banded some 55 lb kids at 8 weeks of age and we barely could get the band on them, I would say it would depend on how long it is taking you to feed them out, If it is taking you 4 months compared to 9 months. We market many of ours at 4 months and we normally band around 4 weeks of age after we get the boosters done for the CD&T. We tried to do it later this year, but it wasn't easy getting some of them in the bander.

I have a few June bucklings that are 8 weeks and they aren't growing as well as my winter kids, at 8 weeks I still could easily band them. They are maybe 35lbs.

 

[FarmGuru]

Thanks for answer
One more thing what should we do in order to reduce the stress induced by castration. Is there any food to give or any thing not to give
I means do's and don't's

 

[Goatherd]

Don't be so sure that you're going to have stressed animals over this; you may not have any. I banded two bucklings which were the first I ever banded. They were nine weeks old. Put the bands on and, quite frankly, off they went as if nothing had happened. In anticipation of possible pain or stress I had on hand, Banimine, from my vet which is used to manage pain. I never needed to use it.
Everything is progressing quite well, but the testicles haven't fallen off yet as it's only been two weeks.


This is not to say that you may not have some issues, as I'm sure it certainly is possible, so something for pain might be a good idea to have on hand.

 

[elevan]

Don't be so sure that you're going to have stressed animals over this; you may not have any. I banded two bucklings which were the first I ever banded. They were nine weeks old. Put the bands on and, quite frankly, off they went as if nothing had happened. In anticipation of possible pain or stress I had on hand, Banimine, from my vet which is used to manage pain. I never needed to use it.
Everything is progressing quite well, but the testicles haven't fallen off yet as it's only been two weeks.


This is not to say that you may not have some issues, as I'm sure it certainly is possible, so something for pain might be a good idea to have on hand.

Be prepared with some pain reliever just in case as goatherd said. But not everyone is dramatic about it I had a buckling that was a drama queen for 2 days...he was fine, I did give him some banamine though...and as it turned out he's still a "yeller".

eta: it can take 30-60 days for those danglies to fall off

 

[FarmGuru]

Don't be so sure that you're going to have stressed animals over this; you may not have any. I banded two bucklings which were the first I ever banded. They were nine weeks old. Put the bands on and, quite frankly, off they went as if nothing had happened. In anticipation of possible pain or stress I had on hand, Banimine, from my vet which is used to manage pain. I never needed to use it.
Everything is progressing quite well, but the testicles haven't fallen off yet as it's only been two weeks.


This is not to say that you may not have some issues, as I'm sure it certainly is possible, so something for pain might be a good idea to have on hand.

Dont you think if I use Burdizzo method which is common in my country , stress is a problem ?

 

[elevan]

Don't be so sure that you're going to have stressed animals over this; you may not have any. I banded two bucklings which were the first I ever banded. They were nine weeks old. Put the bands on and, quite frankly, off they went as if nothing had happened. In anticipation of possible pain or stress I had on hand, Banimine, from my vet which is used to manage pain. I never needed to use it.
Everything is progressing quite well, but the testicles haven't fallen off yet as it's only been two weeks.


This is not to say that you may not have some issues, as I'm sure it certainly is possible, so something for pain might be a good idea to have on hand.

Dont you think if I use Burdizzo method which is common in my country , stress is a problem ?

Stress can be a problem no matter which method you choose. It really depends on the individual goat and how he will react.

 

[20kidsonhill]

I just read my comments and realized I hadn't had my coffee yet.

MY point about, "depends on how long it is taking you to feed them out," was kind of a two fold statement. First being, if yours are grain fed and growing quickly you may need to band a little sooner, compared to grass fed, since they will get bigger a lot faster and harder to band. further more, if you are planning on having them for 8 to 10 months then banding them a little later like 8 to 10 weeks would possibly help prevent Urinary calculi problems with your older whethers. Since we market at 4 to 6 months, we don't worry about it as much.

I did have one 3 month old whether die from UC in the last 10 years.

Fresh water all the time is very very important for the whethers. Dehydration for even 4 or 5 hours can cause a build up of phosphorus in the urine resulting in UC.

Some daily long steamy grass or hay, even if feeding the goats out on grain is important, since they need the saliva from chewing the long stems to help with proper phosphorus digestion.

grain and minerals should always have the 2 to 1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus and grain should have ammonia chloride in it. I keep extra ammonia chloride on the farm, and add a little extra to the feed every now and then. Around 1/2 teaspoon per 150lbs of animals, Since my feed already has Ammonia chloride in it. the recommend dose is 1 teaspoon per 150lbs of animal for prevention per day.


We also wean at 8 weeks and I like to get the banding done before I wean, I find it is easier on the kids to beable to run to mom for comfort and some nursing. We don't do anything else special for them. We always feed on a regular schedule, so I wouldn't change when I feed because I banded that day. If banding in the summer months, it is recommended to cut the scrotum off at 10 to 14 days, cut below the band and then slip off the band. this will help with infection setting in. At the very least in the summer you should go back at 1 week or so and spray and check and apply iodine or blu-kote spray.

We band in cooler weather. I didn't band my summer kids this year.

So if you have a grass fed operation and are keeping kids on mom for 12 weeks, and not selling until 6 to 9 months of age or even older then, I would consider banding closer to 10 weeks of age, as long as your kids aren't topping 50lbs by then. even 50lbs was a big job.


Sorry for so much information. I had my coffee.

 

[Ms. Research]

Don't be so sure that you're going to have stressed animals over this; you may not have any. I banded two bucklings which were the first I ever banded. They were nine weeks old. Put the bands on and, quite frankly, off they went as if nothing had happened. In anticipation of possible pain or stress I had on hand, Banimine, from my vet which is used to manage pain. I never needed to use it.
Everything is progressing quite well, but the testicles haven't fallen off yet as it's only been two weeks.


This is not to say that you may not have some issues, as I'm sure it certainly is possible, so something for pain might be a good idea to have on hand.

Dont you think if I use Burdizzo method which is common in my country , stress is a problem ?

Stress can be a problem no matter which method you choose. It really depends on the individual goat and how he will react.

x2 on the individual. I think that goes with any animal. Some can deal with stress better than others. No matter what method you use.

 

[Goatherd]

Dont you think if I use Burdizzo method which is common in my country , stress is a problem ?

My understanding of the Burdizzo method is that it is the least stressful of all the castration techniques. You are crushing and severing the cords internally so there is no cutting, blood or chance of potential infection.
I believe you can cause some skin surface stress if the tool abrades the scrotum, but that is usually not the case.

There certainly could be some temporary pain so having a pain control med certainly wouldn't hurt to have on hand.

Personally, I thought about doing this method, but just didn't have the nerve to do it! Maybe in the future...