# Not certain where to ask this, but... how long till the balls fall off?



## trampledbygeese

I have a little bummer that came to us at a month old.  That was three weeks ago.  He had already been elasticated, and his tail fell off the same day he came to us.  How much longer until his ballsack falls off?  When should I worry?  I'm not terribly worried yet as the sack is a lot larger than the tail... well you know what it's like, it's the first time I've had an animal castrated in this way, so I just want reassurance this is in the range of normal.

The skin around it was a bit warm and red a few days ago, but no longer. It's turning quite black now.  No nasty smell, just smells like sheep.  No tetanus symptoms.   No obvious signs of pain, but he definitely shows a 'this feels weird-not-happy=sometimes' action about it.  

How much longer till it falls off?  Should I be doing anything to help it?  What symptoms should make me worry?


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## SheepGirl

I can't remember when I banded my two lambs, but I think it was definitely a couple weeks ago. One lost his scrotum and the other still has his hanging there, even though it's all shriveled up and hard. I had one who I finally pulled his off when he was 8-9 months old a couple years ago. Turns out it was just stuck to his wool.


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## trampledbygeese

Glad to hear I'm still in the range of normal... or at least my sheep is.

Tell me, why do you choose the elastic method?  I'm still trying to decide what method to go with my flock next year.  I have a friend who castrates with a little slit and pulls them out, others crimp, others elastic.  What made you decide your method?


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## SheepGirl

Just what I was taught by my neighbor. His method of choice for castration...he had been raising sheep for almost 80 years. He gave me my first ewe and I kept my flock at his farm for about 6 years before they were moved up to my property. He did buy a burdizzo emasculator (which I now have) but a couple of rams it was used on was not successful. I have not attempted to use it.


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## trampledbygeese

Do you vaccinate against tetanus?  I can understand that is one of the big risks here of using the elastic thing.


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## SheepGirl

Yes, ewes are vaccinated with CD/T 30 days pre-lambing and lambs are done at 30 and 60 days of age. However, I never did vaccinate any ewes this year except the first two to lamb nor have I done any lambs  I haven't had the time to catch them (I work 5 days a week and have school the other 2 days), but now that I'm out of school for the summer I can now herd them all into the pen and get everybody weighed and vaccinated. So I will do that and then do another booster in 4 weeks.


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## AbbeyRoad

Since you are talking about this already- hope you don't mind me popping in.  I am looking into getting two just weaned ram lambs.  I want to wether them.  I had thought you had to do the banding in the first week of life.  Can I still do that method even though they are older?  Or should I call a vet/go a different route?

I need to verify their exact age, but my understanding is they are roughly 2 months old.


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## Melanie

I banded my goats one at 9 weeks and the other at 12 weeks.  I do not know about lambs but it is actually better for bucklings to wait till they are 12 weeks or older to band so their urethra is fully formed.  Then you are less likely to have UTI as they grow.  It did not cause any issues for me to wait.  The only reason why one was banded at a younger age was because he was to promiscuous with his Mom and I did not want to chance him getting her pregnant.


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## trampledbygeese

@AbbeyRoad, I don't know how it is with the elasticator, but I know you can surgically castrate at any age. 

The ball sack fell off sometime yesterday, after a few days of being very green (not happy grass coloured green either) and smelling nasty.  

Now I've had one ram banded and one ram done with a slice and pull, I think I won't use the band again. 

I can see the advantage of the elastic method - mostly because anyone can do it and it's affordable.  But given the discomfort, risk of tetanus, and other risks/smells, I'm going to go with the surgical method in future.  If something goes wrong with the operation, you know right away and can act (and salvage the meat if it comes to that), but with the elasticator, you don't necessarily know that something went wrong 'till much later.


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## Ruus

trampledbygeese said:


> Now I've had one ram banded and one ram done with a slice and pull, I think I won't use the band again.


I've seen ram lambs banded, and most of them were behaving normally in about half an hour. I had my ram lamb surgically castrated Wednesday, and he still isn't eating, won't walk unless forced, then he drags himself on three legs just a short way and collapses, looking dull. Doesn't care if his dam leaves him, just lays there staring into space. He is showing a tiny bit of improvement, but I don't think I'll have a ram castrated like this again.


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## trampledbygeese

That's really sad @Ruus , hope he perks up soon.  
Out of curiosity, what method of surgery did you use?  Any drugs with that?

I think there are drawbacks with all methods of castration, we are drastically altering the physiology of the animal, not just by removing the balls, but also the long lasting hormonal change.  

Originally I thought for my flock that I would castrate any male not likely to be breeding stock, but now I'm thinking of just separating the males into the bachelor flock at younger age and only castrating the ones that might be kept for fibre boys.

My first experience with surgical castration was completely horrid.  We didn't know it, but the fella had a hernia in the sack, so that when the balls came out, the guts tumbled out after.  Very upsetting on it's own, but more so because this was earmarked to be a long lived fibre boy (a pet basically) and was raised accordingly. 

Thankfully we hadn't given it any shots before the operation and we were able to harvest the meat.  We did take him to a vet to see what could be done, but the operation started at 3 grand with less than 10% chance of success.  That vet's bill is always triple the estimated price, and with virtually no chance of success. We were so sad, we thought to euthanize him, but when we found out the chemicals they use meant the body has to be disposed of as hazardous material... I was shocked.  Because it is so toxic to euthanize him, we couldn't even take him home to bury him.  My poor little guy going to poison the earth because I'm too cowardly to do the dead myself?  No chance.  

With many tears, I harvested the meat, bones, hide and horns... everything else got cooked up and fed to the chickens who were joyful for the treat.  It was really tough but I'm glad I did it.  In a way it was honouring his life to make certain that he didn't go to waste, that his life was used to nourish us... it's hard to describe, but it's the closest I've ever had to a spiritual experience.  

But back to castration.  That was my first firsthand experience, and I swore off surgical castration... but the more I learn about it and what I've seen of different styles, I think I'll go back to the slit and pull method.  Sure it costs more, but for me, it's very quick to find out if something goes wrong.

With the elasticator, you can grow tetanus and other problems while the sack is dying, so you either need to vaccine or run the risk.  Sure, it's a small risk, but if the animal does die of it, then the meat isn't going to be any use.  I think that's the most important thing for me - if my animal has to die, we will honour it's life by using every part of it.

But that's just my experience and my feelings that influence my choice to stick with surgical method.  I can see a lot of benefits to the elasticator too.  I might use it in the future if I can't get the castrator to come out... I don't have steady enough hands to cut into a live animal.


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## Ruus

My little guy got a tetanus shot when he was castrated, and some Banamine yesterday when he wouldn't get up or walk. It didn't help much. He is also supposed to be a fiber boy, so I'm going to be pretty upset if this messes him up. Just getting him castrated cost more than he would have been worth intact. :-(
edit: it was slice and pull method. No seditives/anesthesia or anything he could be reacting badly to.


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## trampledbygeese

Sending good thoughts for your fella.  Hopefully he's just depressed and will come around in a day or two.  
Any signs of infection?  

My friend's goat was like that for almost a week after he got snipped, but came around in the end.


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## Ruus

No, no sign of infection. He was doing a lot better by the time I put them up tonight. Still moving very gingerly, but keeping up with the rest.


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## trampledbygeese

So glad he's improving.  Let us know how he gets on.


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