Need advice on Wethering

[2luv2farm]

Would love some feedback regarding when to wether bucklings. This is our first experience with Nigerian kids and we have fallen in LOVE with them and want to keep a few as pets. Our 3 does kidded in late December, so they are approximately 2 months old.

We have received many opinions. Some vets say 3 months and others say 5 months. We are only interested in sedating & castrating.

Any suggestions out there?

 

[Southern by choice]

We only have 1 wether and he is a sheep. He was surgically castrated at 5-6 months old. We don't wether our bucklings so I can't help you there but I have heard the same thing as you. Some vets say 3m some 4m, some want to wait longer so the pizzle is not affected and less issues with UC.

I am curious as to what others do also. I like minimum of 4 months and well... I also like surgical castration.

Good post and will be watching to see the input.

 

[Bucking Adoeable Fainters]

Yes thank you for posting! This is exactly what I was looking for and am extremely interested to hear experiences and comments. I have 4bucklings on the ground with possibly more due this week.

I have Myotonics and was told to castrate between 6-8weeks. I have done research and have seen burdizzo not working completely. I cannot consciously inflict that pain, then it not work. Especially if I'm selling my boys as wethers. I couldn't do that!

I am not the hugest fan of banding, but once researched, I found that it only hurts them for a minute then it goes numb. Easy to keep clean, maintain, and I know the job is done. Also I breed for show. Seeing that defomed skin sack via a burdizzo in a wethered class is both unappealing and confusing to see.

Researched cutting castration, and i believe thats for the professionals. There is only one goat vet within a 3hour drive and he is a very busy man and very costly. A visit alone is $100....with no hands on my goats. Eek!

 

[Southern by choice]

Personally I do not like banding and have many years of experience in the canine field where many do banding for tails. Ultimately the pain does last longer also banding results in the rotting of flesh.
I DO believe it is the individuals choice and should NOT be judged one way or the other. The number one driving factor is cost, lets face it. Surgical castration can be costly depending on what age it is done. I think if I had a large farm and was producing large numbers of animals I would probably have to band despite my own personal apprehensions.

Recently I talked with one of my 3 vets... this particular vet hates banding but understands the whys etc. A very laid back vet and lets people make their own decisions without guilting them etc.
This vet worked on a huge goat farm during vet school... this farm castrated surgically at 10 days. Vet said they never had any issues long term. This vet feels most of the time the issues come from people feeding their goats like pet dogs and that is what causes most issues. The procedure on a 10 day old goat and a 4 month old goat is different and requires a different level of sedation and usually sutures and tying off... hence the increase in cost.

One of my other vets also worked on a goat farm during vet school... they banded... so this one kinda follows suit with that.

Amazing how all 3 of our vets have different ideas and philosophies... I respect their input but I tend to glean a great deal from those on the forum on these things... many people many experiences and also the pro's/con's of those experiences.

 

[2luv2farm]

I am not against banding by any means, just don't trust myself enough to do it the 1st time and know that it was done correctly. Since this is our first experience, I feel more comfortable having a "professional" take over. After all, this is a super sensitive area!!

Thanks for the advice. We have decided to have this performed by a highly recommended vet (in his office) at 5 months of age.

 

[Southern by choice]

Good call. Hoping all goes well and without issue.

 

[2luv2farm]

Thanks a million! Best wishes to you as well.

 

[rebelINny]

Well I have seen the surgical castration done by a vet at the same time the bucklings were disbudded with no problems whatsoever. I generally would band at 8-12 weeks old if I know they are going as wether's to a new home. However, that being said, I think I like the surgical method better but I am not brave enough to try it at home. I personally have done banding and burdizzo both with very successful, uneventful outcomes. Banding does make the kids have pain for a couple of days, and if it is watched closely, kept clean, and in cooler temps there is never a problem (at least not in my experience) Giving banamine or children's tylenol works well to help them the first couple days as well. Good luck with your boys.

 

[2luv2farm]

I guess my biggest concern with banding (besides being inexperienced) is the future. Have you had any feedback from the owners once they are much older? With surgical castration, I like the idea of it being totally removed surgically and sutured afterwards. Very interested in learning more about banding for future knowledge, however.

 

[HeatherL]

We banded our two goat wethers. We did it in November so it took longer for the sacs to "fall off" completely. They were about 6 months when we got them and one banded easier than the other (one was almost too big to fit in my bander). We also have banded our sheep. Neither have had any problems. I personally wouldn't wait until 6 months ever again as those boys are still more in tune with their manly attitudes. I think in the sheep they were about 10 weeks when we did them last time.