# castrating in the summer



## rtdoyer (May 6, 2010)

I have 4 boys that are all about 65-70 pounds and 4 months old. They are doing 'buckish' behavior - peeing on themselves, smelling, etc...

We have a local vet who will surgically castrate them for us. However, my concern, we are getting in to the heat of the summer (supposedly) with temps in the high 80's/low 90's and probably 100 in August. It is fly season too!

My question - should we wait to castrate until September when the weather is cooler and there will be fewer flies and less stress on the goats? OR, does it matter - they bounce back quick?

The longer you wait to castrate - do the buckish behaviors stick around. They smell!

Thank you,
Tonia


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## sanhestar (Dec 10, 2008)

For the sake of your goats - wait until there are no more flies. You don't want to deal with wound infections, do you?

When you castrate surgically, it can take up to three weeks for the wound to heal.

The buckish behaviour and smell will disappear even if you wait until fall.


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## IceDog (Aug 1, 2010)

Or just clamp them with a burdizzo.


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## rtdoyer (May 6, 2010)

Part of going ahead right now is that I'm a teacher and am off for the summer so I could keep an eye on them better (post-surgery). 

I have heard to wait until October when it starts to freeze to have the castration done. 

The vet didn't offer anything other than the surgical castration (similar to the cow surgery). I read several posts on the burdizzo and am not sure that I want to tackle that on my own without someone showing me how. It sounds like you can have problems if not done correctly.

Tonia


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

you can have then cut now if you have a good fly repellent.

i use Catron IV Permethrin Screwworm & Ear Tick Spray even if you have maggots it cleans them up and keeps the maggots at bay.


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## Jake Levi (Jun 9, 2011)

Its hard to believe that the vet wouldnt suggest the burdizzo ! 

A simple procedure, even if he does it, but then, he'd only get the farm call instead of the surgery. 

Find someone to show you how to use the burdizzo, you can practice on wrapped chewing gum to see how it works, the trick is to get each cord securely held when you use it, two times, once on each side gets it done right. 

Or ask the vet to do it with the burdizzo, and show you in the process. Thats the simplest solution.


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

rtdoyer said:


> Part of going ahead right now is that I'm a teacher and am off for the summer so I could keep an eye on them better (post-surgery).
> 
> I have heard to wait until October when it starts to freeze to have the castration done.
> 
> ...


Too bad you wern't at the Rendezvous this year. Carolyn had a tool and gave a demonstration on buck kids. You could have got in line.


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## IceDog (Aug 1, 2010)

My first 5 goats were near year old bucks. I called my vet to get them neutered only to hear.... "I don't do goats".

Yikes what now?! I had to learn how to use the burdizzo.

I learned online using the text and photos at FiasCo Farms. No doubt there are great videos on Youtube too. At the time I was on dial up and could not view online videos.

Cheryl in Idaho


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