# Goat Banding smells bad



## newgoatiemom (Aug 9, 2021)

Hi All,
I have two 4 month Nigerian goat bucklings that I banded about 4 days ago. All was going well, balls were starting to shrink, until today they both started smelling horrible! Like death. I checked the bands and everything looks normal. No swelling, oozing or redness. I did not see any flies or maggots. Both boys are acting fine, walking, eating normally, poop and peeing normally. I checked and they have no fever. I started them both on 4 ml of injectable oxytetracycline to be safe and sprayed with iodine and blue kote. Also both boys had very large testicles for their age! So large we had to use a California bloodless bander which is like the tied tube band. I’ve read that sometimes when the balls are big they can stink. Is it normal for the balls to smell so bad? Has anyone had this happen? Thanks in advance!


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## Mini Horses (Aug 9, 2021)

Are you sure that is where the smell is originating?


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## newgoatiemom (Aug 10, 2021)

Mini Horses said:


> Are you sure that is where the smell is originating?


Yes, I put my head down there and it’s definitely coming from both of their testicles. The bigger boy smells worse than the other.


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## Alaskan (Aug 10, 2021)

Huh.....no idea.


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## Mini Horses (Aug 11, 2021)

Never noticed this on any I banded.  But not disputing you.  Goats tend to have an odor anyway.  If no flies or oozing from band site, I wouldn't feel concern if mine.  Just watch closely, as you are doing.  Flies and ooz not good.


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## newgoatiemom (Aug 12, 2021)

Mini Horses said:


> Never noticed this on any I banded.  But not disputing you.  Goats tend to have an odor anyway.  If no flies or oozing from band site, I wouldn't feel concern if mine.  Just watch closely, as you are doing.  Flies and ooz not good.


Thanks for the reply. We took them to the vet just to be safe and he said they’re ok. He said because the testicles were unusually large (both the size of a large mango) that it can sometimes smell more. We were confused because other than the smell they were normal. Vet said to continue with what we’re doing: We gave them a shot of oxytetracycline 200 mg (4 ml each because they’re about 40 lbs) and are spraying iodine and blu-kote on the area. They are smelling less now. He also said to give them another shot of oxytet in 7 days followed by a 3rd shot on CDT vac in 3 weeks. Hope this helps anyone who has also run into the issue. We were really worried because we kept reading that it should never smell but vet said that it’s not uncommon because it’s literally decomposing. Anyway I’m glad we gave them the antibiotic and took them to the vet as soon as it smelled. Better safe than sorry!


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## farmerjan (Aug 12, 2021)

It is very common in the warm weather... especially this heat..... for them to stink .... the tissue that is dead is literally rotting in the heat.  By using the California bander because they were big, that is to be expected.  We get it with the bull calves that we band with our callicrate bander which is the same basic idea as the california bander.  In fact, in the hot weather, we will run the calves back through the chute in 4-7 days and just cut the sack off and dispose of so they don't smell so bad. As long as the sack is cold to the touch, meaning it has cut off the circulation if done right, and the testicles are shriveling up a bit, it is safe to cut it off below the band, and then spray with the blue cote or something to keep the flies off. 
Good that you were concerned enough to at least go to the vet.


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