# Best age to Castrate



## CASDOG1 (Feb 1, 2013)

Is there an ideal time to have them castrated when you are planning to pack with them? I know in most animals castration can have a profoundly detrimental impact on muscular & skeletal development when done too young. My boys are a little over a month & almost 2 weeks old, respectively, so not even weaned off of milk yet. I don't want stinky bucks, but I do want good, strong bones & muscles.

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Anna and Co.
Thunder Mountain Central Asian Shepherd Dogs
Working Livestock Guardians & Personal Protection Dogs
https://www.facebook.com/ThunderMountai ... epherdDogs


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Between 5 and 6 months is usually the most accepted time. But there are people who do em within weeks of birth and others who have taken breeding bucks and wethered them a few years old. The rule of thumb is, the later the better because their "pipe works" have more time to develop and grow. But there are factors like rut and hormones that may drive you to do it sooner  Here we do em minimum 5 months. Which was about 2 months into the them peeing on themselves and it was no where near rut time. It only took most of the winter for the smell to go away lol


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## CASDOG1 (Feb 1, 2013)

I don't have any does here, so unless female dogs in heat have an effect, I think I will wait until they're around 5-6 months old, then, Thanks!


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

We band everything so we do it at 3 months. Their urinary tract is developed enough to pass smaller crystals but their scrotum is still small enough to get the band on.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Again, totally agree with Rex. After 3 months you will be hard pressed to get a normal green band around the "jewels". Not to mention after 3 months, often times the bands dont work totally and can be left with a dead sack dangling by life cords.


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## CASDOG1 (Feb 1, 2013)

Ah, so banding needs to be done earlier. Hmm...well I prefer the idea of banding so I guess I will have to get Leroy done pretty soon! He'll be 3 months on March 27.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

I think the calf banding tool and bands are larger and would allow you to wait till the 5/6 month mark. Worth looking into


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## CASDOG1 (Feb 1, 2013)

Their breeder is my friend so I will ask her when I see her next. She may already have the cattle banding stuff since she raises a couple of steers every couple of years for meat that she buys as 3 day old calves.


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## imported_ashley (Jun 9, 2011)

We did ours with calf bands---I posted under another topic regarding banding. Ours were peeing on themselves and I gave them a couple of months of that before I banded them so they got mature. I won't band again though. I know it is effective and cheap and I don't have a problem with anyone else doing it, but it was kinda rough for my two older boys to go through. They had a pretty miserable day when it was done and the next day was not fun either and it took awhile before we were friends again. The calf bands were very effective but there testicles were so huge that it took alot of time for them to die to where I could cut them off. When I raise kids again I'll just have it surgically done. But, calf bands work, kids that big don't like it as much though, but they get over it.


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