delayed castration bander

jfh

hi all, our burdizzo has reached the end of the road, it either need to be resprung or thinking of getting http://www.connachtagri.ie/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=vmj_naru.tpl&product_id=133&category_id=14&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=6

anyone here use it before, is it a good idea, we left the weanings go later than usual last year & they were the better for it, however it was tough going, you'd need an extra pair of hands.

thetiredfarmer

jfh wrote: »

hi all, our burdizzo has reached the end of the road, it either need to be resprung or thinking of getting http://www.connachtagri.ie/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=vmj_naru.tpl&product_id=133&category_id=14&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=6

anyone here use it before, is it a good idea, we left the weanings go later than usual last year & they were the better for it, however it was tough going, you'd need an extra pair of hands.

I use the calicrate bander and I find it fantastic.It tensions the band exactly the same on each animal and once I have a good man holding the tail straight I can work away with no problems.It will do any size or age of bull and appears to have very very little effect on the animal apart from mild discomfort for moments afterwards.I would get it very hard to return to the dangers of the burdizzo and the effort required and the sometimes hit and miss results.How does the California bander tool set the tension and hold the band in place ?

Rovi

thetiredfarmer wrote: »

How does the California bander tool set the tension and hold the band in place ?

Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK7TGUxg_wg

That looks fantastically simple and undramatic.

jfh

thetiredfarmer wrote: »

I use the calicrate bander and I find it fantastic.It tensions the band exactly the same on each animal and once I have a good man holding the tail straight I can work away with no problems.It will do any size or age of bull and appears to have very very little effect on the animal apart from mild discomfort for moments afterwards.I would get it very hard to return to the dangers of the burdizzo and the effort required and the sometimes hit and miss results.How does the California bander tool set the tension and hold the band in place ?

that calicrate bander seems to work of the same principal, havent seen that one, just on googling it, it can be bought of dugganvet here, is that where you bought it?

Muckit

thetiredfarmer wrote: »

I use the calicrate bander and I find it fantastic.It tensions the band exactly the same on each animal and once I have a good man holding the tail straight I can work away with no problems.It will do any size or age of bull and appears to have very very little effect on the animal apart from mild discomfort for moments afterwards.I would get it very hard to return to the dangers of the burdizzo and the effort required and the sometimes hit and miss results.How does the California bander tool set the tension and hold the band in place ?

Do you give a tetanus jab, or can you get away without it?

thetiredfarmer

jfh wrote: »

that calicrate bander seems to work of the same principal, havent seen that one, just on googling it, it can be bought of dugganvet here, is that where you bought it?

Ordered it through my vet.Crowd wouldn't deal with public.€700 inc.Vat and 200 bands.

thetiredfarmer

Muckit wrote: »

Do you give a tetanus jab, or can you get away without it?

Yep always give 2 ml. about 2-3 weeks before the job and 2 mls on the day aswell.

jfh

thetiredfarmer wrote: »

Ordered it through my vet.Crowd wouldn't deal with public.€700 inc.Vat and 200 bands.

thanks for getting back to me, that seems expensive, i think the boss man would prefer to chance the kicks that fork out that, might look around for a cheaper one.

thetiredfarmer

jfh wrote: »

thanks for getting back to me, that seems expensive, i think the boss man would prefer to chance the kicks that fork out that, might look around for a cheaper one.

Fair comment about the price but I have over 400 cattle done from 6mths to 2yrs and it is still as good new and hopefully I will not have to buy a new one ever again.

Muckit

Did you get the bands through your vet also? How much are they costing?

Thanks tiredfarmer

thetiredfarmer

Muckit wrote: »

Did you get the bands through your vet also? How much are they costing?

Thanks tiredfarmer

I did indeed I think they work out around €1 to €1.50 each but not fully sure.
First batch were included with Bander and vet wasn't paid till about 2 months after i got the 2nd batch so not certain on price.

Bodacious

thetiredfarmer wrote: »

Ordered it through my vet.Crowd wouldn't deal with public.€700 inc.Vat and 200 bands.

Yep crowd in kildare that supply vets wanted a letter of approval from my vet and the bands not cheap.. had to go back to the burdizzo and im told on here that im too dear with that also.. let them charge for 2 visits and 2 x tetanus shots and the cost of the band and see how much change left out of E10

Just imo regarding banding id go for the callicrate bander as there is less room left for operator error as exact pressure is dictated by the machine.. too tight, too loose can cause addditional discomfort/longer sack drop-off/recovery

Muckit

Bodacious wrote: »

Yep crowd in kildare that supply vets wanted a letter of approval from my vet and the bands not cheap.. had to go back to the burdizzo and im told on here that im too dear with that also.. let them charge for 2 visits and 2 x tetanus shots and the cost of the band and see how much change left out of E10

Had you problems with the vet giving you a letter of approval bodacious? Sounds like an awful lot of red tape

Bodacious

Muckit wrote: »

Had you problems with the vet giving you a letter of approval bodacious? Sounds like an awful lot of red tape

No the vet would have given me the letter no problem, less hassle for him, older vet before that never squeezed cattle either, left it to ourselves

Just too expensive for small numbers imo and the two tetanus shots would mean going out 2-3 weeks before to the farm and back again to apply the band and 2nd shot, only one visit with the burdizzo.

Still think its a great job though and as previous poster says 400 cattle done, would suit a beef fella doing his own 60 bull weanlings in a shed where he could leave them go a bit stronger and avail of testosterone growth, then run them through the crush and give them shot 1 and in 3 weeks apply bands/2nd shot

Count Mondego

Are many of you using these banders? Two years in a row now we've missed one bullock and need to do him again. Would be looking at a decent one that has tension control to ensure the right force is applied.

Any comments?

_Brian

Did 5 last year and it broke off one and our fault we missed him.

Count Mondego

_Brian wrote: »

Did 5 last year and it broke off one and our fault we missed him.

What one do you have, Brian?

_Brian

Count Mondego wrote: »

What one do you have, Brian?

Gosh have no idea.
It wasn’t expensive, bought it online and had it maybe 5 years before we used it.

Year we bought it I mentioned it to the vet and she recommended against banding as she said she had seen a fair few complications from it.

We had no real bother other than that one that broke.

The man in red and black

We have had a big move this year with older suckler farmers sick of using burdizzo(or paying vet/paying local squeezing man), changing over to rubber rings as baby calves much like lambs. Any I have chatted to seem happy the animals are still thriving fine without their crown jewels.

Base price

The man in red and black wrote: »

We have had a big move this year with older suckler farmers sick of using burdizzo(or paying vet/paying local squeezing man), changing over to rubber rings as baby calves much like lambs. Any I have chatted to seem happy the animals are still thriving fine without their crown jewels.

@ The man in red and black - when you were in Canada did they use banding for dehoring. I have seen videos where they use this method in the US.
I wonder is it better (on the animal) than anesthetising and sculling with a saw or wire.

whelan2

What do you do with a bull that is acting as a bull but there's no balls there? Have put him in with a few Angus bulls. Nothing showing to squeeze

The man in red and black

Base price wrote: »

@ The man in red and black - when you were in Canada did they use banding for dehoring. I have seen videos where they use this method in the US.
I wonder is it better (on the animal) than anesthetising and sculling with a saw or wire.

I've only seen the videos too. They were all burned off in Canada with disbudding iron around 1-4 months old. Could never understand why they weren't done under 2 weeks but I guess they liked doing batches and when calving all year round in herds <100 cows you could be waiting a while for 10 calves to disbud.

I'd say in theory the banding of large horns might be less painful on the animal than skulling them but no experience of banding horns to comment.

The man in red and black

whelan2 wrote: »

What do you do with a bull that is acting as a bull but there's no balls there? Have put him in with a few Angus bulls. Nothing showing to squeeze

Could he have been banded so the scrotum fell off but they missed a stone and it's actually up very high now beside the base of the penis? Have seen this happen. To look at them from behind there is nothing there.

Or he could be a congenital rig and have one high nut still in the inguinal ring or in the abdomen.

whelan2

The man in red and black wrote: »

Could he have been banded so the scrotum fell off but they missed a stone and it's actually up very high now beside the base of the penis? Have seen this happen. To look at them from behind there is nothing there.

Or he could be a congenital rig and have one high nut still in the inguinal ring or in the abdomen.

Bought in as a calf. His comrade from same herd was fine. He looks like there's nothing there at all in the sack. Jumping on anything near him. Got another lad to see what he thought and he never saw anything like it. Safest bet is to leave him with a few bulls

The man in red and black

whelan2 wrote: »

Bought in as a calf. His comrade from same herd was fine. He looks like there's nothing there at all in the sack. Jumping on anything near him. Got another lad to see what he thought and he never saw anything like it. Safest bet is to leave him with a few bulls

Might have a testicle retained in abdomen by the sounds of that. You are right to leave him with bulls just in case. Also assume he is as dangerous as any intact bull and don't trust him.

johnnyw20

Got a few banded on the 1st of may. Took a couple of pics this evening

Base price

johnnyw20 wrote: »

Got a few banded on the 1st of may. Took a couple of pics this evening

Great photo's and thanks for posting them. In your opinion do you think the banding caused irritation/set them back. We seldom need to squeeze bulls as most as sold at 15/16 months for feeding on. Due to the ****e weather this Winter they didn't preform as well so haven't the same weight gain as previous years. We are toying with either feeding them on ourselves or squeezing them. At 15/16 months squeezing is going to be hard on them so would you recommend banding them instead. We have never banded bulls. The bulls are mostly FR, HE, AA and FRx.

johnnyw20

My lads were 13 months bucket reared bulls that I was planning on doing as bull beef but changed my mind. They averaged about 400kg

It was the first time I have seen banding being done and at no stage were they one bit bothered by it and there was zero swelling or bruising. To look at them, they fell back slightly but I think they are just losing the real bull look about them

Count Mondego

What brand of bander do you have, Johnny?

johnnyw20

Count Mondego wrote: »

What brand of bander do you have, Johnny?

Vet done it with a calicrate one