Castrating An Older Goat

[helmstead]

It only endangers their life if you DIY and don't pay attention...older bucks are at increased risk for excessive bleeding and infection. Bucks over 1 yr I recommend snip n pull to be done by a vet under local anethesia, under 1 yr we've banded ourselves, with a course of antibiotics for anything over 6 mos of age precautionarily.

 

[FunnyFarm]

Well heres my personal experience with the banding of my 2 year old buck. I am fortunate enough to have found a vet nearby who is very experienced with farm animals. I spoke with him about castrating my buck and he said it would be no problem to band a 2 year old. He used a bander that used rubber tubing like they use on your arm when you give blood to find your veins. He pulled it tight & secured it with a metal clip. The buck laid down in his stall for about a half hour then was up acting completely normal. This was done on April 15th. His tesiticles turned purple & swollen in the 2 days after the procedure then started to get the droopy deflated look to them. After about a week I smelled what I thought was a dead animal in the barn only to realize it was him! When I had my 2 month old buckling done there was no smell the entire time. Three week past & the testicles were dried & flat but still attached & without any signs of infection although the rotting flesh smell still was strong. After about 2 more weeks the smell left & the testicles fell off without any additional bleeding. I am happy to report he is much easier for me to handle, getting along better with the other goats, & no longer pees on himself so I can now touch him without having that smell on me for the rest of the day. I do recommend if you do this to have it done during the months when the flies are not out. I think the lack of flies bothering the area helped with the smooth completion of the whole process & with the rotting flesh smell I'm sure the flies would have been unbearable for him.