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?

 

[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.

 

[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?

 

[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.

 

[trampledbygeese]

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

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Ruus]

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.