Banding Question

[2littlepygmys]

About two months ago, my DH suprised me by bringing home two pygmy goats. We've never had goats and have just been delighted by these little dudes. They are little bucks, so they were banded before they left the farm they came from. From what I can remember we got them June 18th, so not far from two months ago. I am concerned that their testicles have still not sloughed off. I can tell they are "no longer with us", as they have shrunk up and gotten hard and gross (LOL, much to my husbands dismay...he wasn't raised on a farm like I was so this really stresses him out haha) Yesterday I grabbed Yoda, flipped him over and took a peek. Around the rubber band it does look like it is beginning to come off. Is two months a normal amount of time for this to take, or is something wrong?

Also, what should I be doing to cut down on the risk of infection now that they are beginning to come off?

 

[ksalvagno]

I'm not totally sure but do you see anything wrong around the area? No flies are bothering them? I think you just wait if everything is ok, but hopefully someone with more knowledge will let you know for sure.

 

[2littlepygmys]

Thanks for the reply, a bump always helps haha.

No, I've not seen anything that really concerns me, it just seems like a long time for this to be going on!

 

[chandasue]

I have next to no experience in this area either but I read somewhere that with pygmy and nigerian goats it can take longer because they're smaller and the bands don't completely cut off the blood flow like they do in standard size goats. How much longer? I have no idea...

 

[jodief100]

My goats tend to take 1-2 months and they are fullsize boers and kikos. Unless you see something looking bloody or "wet" or the flys are bothering them, I wouldn't worry. I will sometimes use a spray antibiotic, just the stuff they sell in the drug store for people. It is easy to apply and it helps keep it clean.

If it just doesn't seem to be comming off, put another band on. They will loosen up on occasion.

 

[Ariel301]

The last two I did took about six weeks. The bands seemed bigger and sort of stretched out compared to what I usually use, I borrowed them from a neighbor since I ran out, and I have a suspicion one of her kids played with them and stretched them too loose. I had to reband my boys at five weeks because it did not seem to be working fully (with a new bag of bands from the feed store), and then everything came off within a week.

 

[helmstead]

If it's a raisin, it will fall off eventually. Sounds like it's going fine to me.

 

[Lisa Beck]

If you see no infection around where the band is, then don't worry about it. They will come off in due time. Of course if your husband finds them, he may be a little freaked out.