# Is four months too old to wether?



## ms_sl_lee (Feb 8, 2013)

I have a four month old buck I'd like to wether. Is he too old? And is banding really considered inhumane? I've not given him cdt shots so how long after do I have to wait? I'm afraid of the shot site becoming an abscess. 


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

I like to wait the 4 months when I can and I do the banding every year, it is the only way I ever did it. 

They are in pain for a little bit but it is the blood circulation cut off is why. 

I always gave if I cook about 1/2cc of banamine when I banded but I did not always do that.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You can do tetanus antitoxin for immediate protection.


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## agilitymaster01 (Sep 25, 2013)

So would you suggest waiting longer than 1-2 months, so they can fill out more? Are they like dogs that the longer they are intact the more they grow up "big and strong"?


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Minimum time to castrate a buck you plan on keeping as a wether should be 3 months. Here we like to wait till they are 5 months old. The longer you wait the more developed their urinary track is. Helping with urinary calculi blockages. Yes you can get a bit more bulk on a kid by waiting to castrate. Thats due to the testosterone they start producing when they hit the age they can start to breed. Which is typically about 3 months old. Along with bone growth you will get horn and hair growth. Depends on the goat but its hard most of the time to wait longer then 5 months cause your sweet little boy has become a stinky buck in training 

As for banding, that depends on what bander/bands you are using. A normal bander/bands will not fit over the jewels of a 5 month old full sized goat. Some use the bigger calf bander and bands at this point. Here we just call the vet out to use the burdizzo.


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## agilitymaster01 (Sep 25, 2013)

Ok. So if I wait until 3 months to band them, at what age do you recommend taking him away from his sister and mom? 2 months?


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

For dairy goats you might even get a bit more time outta them but I think the 2 month point is good. Not sure for boers but would guess about the same. Smaller breeds I hear are a little more driven at younger ages. Will have to wait for owners to weigh in on them.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

With my boers bucklings at the youngest, I remove from the Does at 2.5 months old. 
If they are not bringing out their you know whats, I will allow them to be out with them until 3 months at most.

3 months is when I band them, if I am to do that.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

My Nigerian Dwarves sometimes need to be banded at 5 weeks, depending on how large and developed they are. Most can wait until 8 weeks, but Nigerians are quite fertile and can impregnate at 6 weeks, if they are big enough and have enough willpower to. 

Most other breeds it seems you have a little more time with. I also give pain medication before banding, and I do it at night, so they tend to sleep the worst of it off.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

I band at 3 months old. If they start putting their thing out then you need to either separate or band. But generally no earlier than 8 weeks for us. 

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## ms_sl_lee (Feb 8, 2013)

Thanks everyone. I sold my little fella to someone that will band him. I just didn't know if I waited too long. Her neighbor may even want to use him for breeding. I have never banded a goat so I didn't know. 


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

we pull bucks from the herd when they get frisky...not just the pre bucky play stuff but actually trying peeing on self, and pulling himself out of his sheath...usally 2 1/2 months to 3 months old...


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## christinajh (Jan 24, 2013)

What about the boys that will be going to freezer camp? Do you get a little more size on them initially if you wait until 2-3 months to band? Or does it really matter? Just wondering since I will be butchering most of my male kids this year, so this is good to know.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

It doesn't matter for kids going into the freezer.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

christinajh said:


> What about the boys that will be going to freezer camp? Do you get a little more size on them initially if you wait until 2-3 months to band? Or does it really matter? Just wondering since I will be butchering most of my male kids this year, so this is good to know.


Yes, you get better growth on intact males. Last year I had a doe deliver triplets the 22nd of March - 1 buck and 2 does. He was too young to band when I banded the kids delivered in January(15th through the 31st), so I opted not band him. The weather was not cooperating, we had a late start on the hay, and it just wasn't worth jumping through the hoops it would take to pen and catch him in order to band him. I shipped him November 13th, along with the wethers born in January. All of the kids were weaned late at approximately 6 months of age - the March buck included. The average weight of the pretty much uniform 21 January wethers was 72 lbs. The March buck - who went through the ring by himself - weighed 80 lbs. The January wethers received a 14% grower pellet for approximately 2 - 3 months following weaning along with good grass/alfalfa hay, the March buck did not get anything except good grass/alfalfa hay (snafu on my part) - no pellets after weaning. Draw your own conclusions.


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

Are you wethering for meat or for pet? I only keep breeding males, so wethers are for meat. I wether at 6 weeks or so because UC is not an issue. They stay on mom until they leave for freezer camp at 6 months of age, so they have the proper Calcium to phosphoris ratio in their diet to prevent UC..

I don't give tetanus to my wethers since they are for food, but I do give them a shot of banamine before I band. I make sure the area at the top of the scrotom and belly is clean. I spray with alcohol and then wipe with iodine before I apply the band. The band is dipped in alcohol also before applying. I spray the area daily with alcohol to prevent infection. Never had any problems with infection.

No matter what way you castrate, it's going to hurt. Any surgery will hurt. Some goats are naturally wimpy and really react to the process by screaming and throwing themselves onto the ground while other act like nothing happened.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Here any boys who are going to end up in the freezer are done between 2 weeks and 2 months. There is no additional growth from them being intact until they hit breeding age and the testosterone starts to aid in growth. Prior to that its all about the milk and feed.

Personally I havent eaten enough goat to say one way or another but the locales here who eat them all the time DO NOT want their jewels intact at the typical purchase age of 3 months. They insist it flavors the meat otherwise.


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