Over the past several weeks, we have been requested to castrate bulls that were originally targeted for the bull beef market. Given that the market has all but collapsed, farmers are opting to castrate their animals in an effort to redeem something on their investment. There are three ways to castrate a young bull:

  • Use a burdizzo.
  • Use rubber bands (there are special rubber bands for castration and a special tool for their use).
  • Open surgical castration.

    • Given the size of these animals at present, burdizzo castration is not an option. Not only because of the sheer size of the scrotum and cord, but also because of the huge swelling that would take place afterwards, which would greatly hinder thrive and is not in the interest of animal welfare.

    Rubber bands offer an alternative solution, but it is absolutely imperative that animals be vaccinated with two shots of a clostridial vaccine that also contains tetanus at least two weeks apart before banding.

    It takes about three weeks for the scrotum to slough off due to the blood supply being cut off by the bands.

    This works very well, but, over the last month, there have been a lot of flies around, so treating with a fly repelling pour-on preparation when banding is necessary.

    The third method, surgical castration (cutting out the testicles and sealing the cord with a specialised instrument), is only an option for later in the year, as the open wound would only attract flies even in spite of treatment with pour-on preparations.

    Vaccination

    Clostridial vaccination is also necessary in this scenario.

    There is always a danger of bleeding with this method; animals must be watched carefully for the 24 hours afterwards.

    The advantage of banding is that it does not leave an open wound, nor is there any fear of bleeding.

    The month of July just past and continuing into August, the heat and humidity experienced was ideal for flies.

    We encountered a huge amount of summer mastitis in dry cows and heifers.

    This is carried by flies, and on some farms this occurred despite the use of pour-on treatments.

    When castrating those big animals, my personal preference is banding, but leave it as long as possible to avoid too much fly activity.