At what age do you castrate young bulls?

n1st

Purchasing weanling bulls and am wondering when and if I have to castrate

The man in red and black

If you are not going to finish as bulls(difficult management), then the younger the better. They go back less the younger they are when castrated. Leaving them to 18 months before castrating means they go backwards much more at the time of castration cancelling out any perceived advantage. Legally need to be done by a vet over 6 months.

Surgical castration(removing testicles with scalpel) has the least impact on growth rates compared to banding and burdizzo. You should get them vacccinated for blackleg/tetanus regardless of which method used. Pain relief is a no brainer. Less pain= less decreased appetite= less reduction in weight gain= more profit.

Chat to your vet about timing and preference. Would need an immaculately clean straw bed if cutting now, otherwise would have to wait until turn out. Method varies in areas. I'm in Kilkenny and almost nobody wants bulls cut. Burdizzo causes a right bit of swelling and pain over 300kg. Over 450kg burdizzo is extremely severe on animals and probably shouldn't be used at all.

n1st

Great answer.

Can weanling bullocks be bought, already castrated and less that 12 months?

Is it common practice for someone to sell weanlings already castrated?

Easten

Not that common for Suckler stock, reason being the farmer isn't getting paid for his effort plus by castrating them they are then excluded from the Bull beef market or from shipping live bull Weanlings.

Dairy beef stock tend to be castrated as letting them go to bulls makes them less sale-able, they mature into bulls much earlier than Sucklers. Also with Dairy beef they tend to go to at least 30 months before killing and no farmer wants a herd of 2 year old+ bulls roaming around the farm

funkey_monkey

We'd always have them castrated for sale as otherwise you take a hit on price at the mart on them being bulls when you sell as weanlings as the buyers don't want the hassle of doing it themselves. We probably castrate too late, but that is something we are looking at correcting going forward. As we don't intend to sell bulls for breeding nor finish bull beef, then there is no advantage to waiting because as previously said the effects on them are far more severe - I have seen it in our own.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118520337#Comment_118520337

Surgical castration(removing testicles with scalpel) has the least impact on growth rates compared to banding and burdizzo. You should get them vacccinated for blackleg/tetanus regardless of which method used. Pain relief is a no brainer. Less pain= less decreased appetite= less reduction in weight gain= more profit.

Does that apply for surgical castration at a young age (3 months)? Our vet has never mentioned vaccinating for those - just pain relief. We were told if cutting at this time of year, you'd need to put them out to minimise the risk of infection.

Cutting with the Henderson tool is meant to be a good way, but I'm not sure it if it done here.

jimmy G M

We castrate spring born calves in the autumn with the burdizzo. Some might be castrated before they are weaned, or we might wait 2/3 weeks after weaning when the stress of weaning is gone and they are settled. Same with bought in bulls, wait til they are settled, 2/3 weeks, than castrate. Keep them in the same groups afterwards as mixing of groups leads to stress, mounting etc. Best if they can be left outside for a week or so after castrating, but often they are done when they are on slats depending on the year.

We have done yearling bulls in the spring, if one escaped in the autumn, again no mixing or stress is important. Do not castrate and then let them out of the shed for example. Do them well in advance of turnout, or let them out for a week or two and then gather them up again to castrate.

Get a vet or experienced person to do them for you if you are not sure. Not a job to be chancing it. A good man on the tail is vital, tail straight up in the air keeps them quiet.

The man in red and black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118522241#Comment_118522241

Yeah it would still apply at 3 months most likely. They may still have some protection from maternal antibodies from colostrum but to be 100% safe I would be vaccinating those too. Sometimes as vets we just assume everyone vaccinates for blackleg tetanus. It's cheap and it is everywhere. Anyone that says they never had a case I always ask was every animal that died suddenly sent for post mortem? One strong weanling dying of blackleg would pay for vaccine for the farm for 20 years approx depending on herd size. It can occur in any muscle, the heart, diaphragm, even the tongue. So just because the neck or rump don't sell up doesn't mean sudden deaths were not blackleg.

Henderson tool wouldn't have many extra benefits it is just faster. A good tool by all accounts, big thing in the USA apparently.

kollegeknight

I usually get the vet to do spring born in autumn when He is scanning the cows.

I keep them for the winter because I find I get a better price in spring and don’t want too much trouble in the sheds at housing.

He does a surgical castration and they were in great form after it this winter.