I have a billy goat that is 5 weeks old. He is filly weaned, jumping fences, eating grain(if he can find it on the barn floor) and hay. After reading others' comments about keeping a buck around I am likely changing my mind. Is it too late to remove his manhood? What is the best method? Vet? Rubberband?

-- Paul (pbray@tds.net), March 19, 2001

Answers

I would definately recommend banding him. It's not too late. After my first and only castration by the slice and dice method on a big steer, I will never, ever put an animal through that procedure again. The banding is quick and much less painful. If you have a neighbor or friend with sheep, they will most likely have an elastrator you can borrow or they might even do it for you. It's a piece of cake, just make sure both testicals are descended and in the scrotum once you get the band on.

-- Julie (julieamc@excite.com), March 19, 2001.

We use the elasterator (bands) it's a snap! From one who tried to keep a billy for a while, I won't allow another one with "his manhood" intact on our place till my dh builds a pen far away from the house and the does!

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), March 19, 2001.

Paul,you probably already know that this isn't an ordinary dime store rubber band.For this you will need to find someone who has the elastrator mentioned in the above post.If you can't find that,it's slice and dice time.Cut a small slit in the bottom of the scrotum.Pull out and snap off the testicles(one at a time of course). Practically no blood this way and it heals very quickly.This sounds much worse than it is.I would wait ,on either method,until he is a couple of months old.

-- JT (gone2seed@hotmail.com), March 19, 2001.

Yes Paul the castration is very easily done with elasatator bands. You should also vaccinate him for tetanus. You can order a very inexpensive one from Jeffers livestock catalog for under 10$ 1800- Jeffers or jefferslivestock.com. Make sure you get both testicles and no teats or pull down any plumbing into the sack. The testicles will fall off in 4 to 6 weeks. You can also order your vaccinations their, I use Bar Vac CD&T, just a 2cc shot now and also another in 21 days. I actually would wait and vaccinate him now, then castrate and give your second vaccination in 21 days. You can also buy very inexpensive feeders and buckets or make your own, goats who eat off the ground are just picking up others cocci and worms. He will never grow to his potential, let alone being weaned at 5 weeks. Hoping that it was just a typo and you meant 5 months, which then means a trip to the vet for castration. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 19, 2001.

I prefer to use the knife method. Then you know for sure that both testicles are out of the body. Sometimes one of the testicles will slip back into the body when using the bands, and I think that the knife method is actually a lot faster and easier on the kid than the slow tortous bands. With an older animal, yes they would bleed a lot and suffer a lot more. But when I have done young kids, there is very little blood, maybe just a drop or two at most.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 19, 2001.

We usually do ours at two weeks, so five weeks should be o.k. We use a sharp knife and it is quick and rather simple. I know it is all done in a couple of minutes.

The hardest part is catching young mr. buck goat. Then the next hardest part is convincing him that you are not going to hurt him. When it is all over I just hold onto him for about a minute or two and he is over it. Oh he will give you a dirty look every now and then later on, but he can not stay angry, especially if you have some feed.

-- Ed Copp (OH) (edcopp@yahoo.come), March 19, 2001.

I have only banded calves and tom cats. While you might start out with two testicles, sometimes you do end up with one or none. Before I take the band off of the applicator, I double count - one - two.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), March 19, 2001.

Rubber band method is the humane way to go. It'll be uncomfortable for the for a while, but believe me you won't be sorry. You don't want to keep that manhood "attitude" in the buck!

-- David Cripe (cripeland@aol.com), March 20, 2001.