Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Working Calves.

Banding bull calves, pouring, and implanting bull calves, and pouring heifers.

One of the wife's cats supervised the job.

Richard, looks like a vet pickup...


We had a couple bull calves that only had one nut drop when I went to band them as calves so I didn't band them. Used the 'big' bander on them here about a month ago.

Pain in the ass... But it works.

Nuts are just now falling off.



You band all your bull calves late?

Yes Sam, vet from town. Pricy, but they know what they are doing. We band because a few years back, we had 3 claves bleed to death from castrating with a knife.

We calve later than you do Sam, but yes we banded a bit later than we'd liked. A lot of stress, and sick calves until just a few weeks ago.

Richard, we band as soon as they hit the ground. If I can get a rope on them that is.

We banded when I was a kid, but stopped after a couple too many got through—one with literally had half a nut. More usually a distended testicle was to blame.

You gotta have two full nuts or it's a no go.



Never any trouble if you're doing it yourself.....

I band, and the sooner the better. Nothing any harder on an old man than trying to wrestle a week old calf, that's bawling his head off, and mama is trying to knock you off him.

You should try a Hollywood Bander. Unless there over 800 pounds, you'll take the big bander the the pawnshop.

https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...Klp5bJDjs2pccaVJBXIvp5qCb6RoCLbYQAvD_BwE

That little bastard made our lives a lot easier back when we was buying a lot of cutting bulls.

Knife thank you very much. When I cut the cord/blood supply, I have tension on it and run my knife up and down the length of it so it essentially is "cut" with many little scrapes and tears. Seals up and bleeds a lot less that way. If you are really concerned, you can get a crimper like a burdizo to crimp the cord and cut just below the crimp.

See you have an old Thorson, I still work in a few of those. Can't say as I care for them.

I like to say the band installer has to be able to count to "two".

I just was reminded last week how much fun it is when the band misses one or both nuts- young man tried his hand at banding his babies and I had to fix nine mistakes now that they're 500+ lbs.

i've knifed and pulled the cords on countless calves of all sizes over the last 37 years. I've started using an XL bander (pre-cut rings) the last year or so, and most of the time can do it quicker than the Newberry knife. Often don't even need to tail the calf. And it's easier on my shoulders. Callicrate bander on the ones that are too big to get an XL on.

But a lot still get knifed, 30-40 days for the bag to drop after banding is too long for some guys.