All the calves have been growing lots lately. The bull calf's growth the past weeks has been in the size of his balls.
I do not own a squeeze chute to immobilize cattle. I got the calf into the head gate. But he could wiggle around. I placed a wooden pallet on each side of the calf in the loading corral chute and he couldn't wiggle side to side. Dan held the calf's tail up and to the side. I held a two by four at the back of the calf to try to prevent some of the leg kicking. I couldn't block all of the calf's legs as Joel needed access to the calf's balls from behind the calf. We were careful. The calf was calm and didn't kick even when Joel grabbed the calf's balls to place them in the bander loop.
Joel held the bander while I ratcheted up the tension. Cutting the excess band went so well that we initially thought we screwed something up. But a check of the calf's balls and the band showed everything was fine.
The calf is doing fine. He is doing much better than I would expect him to feel in this situation. No calling or complaining or unusual behavior. You wouldn't know he has been banded.
His balls should fall off within a month. The band is very tight and I shouldn't worry about him inseminating one of the little heifers. But to be on the safe side I am keeping him separated in the loafing corral for a few more days. Also with him separated I can keep a better eye on him for potential problems.
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| Callicrate bander |
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| After the calf has been banded |
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| Excess part of the elastic band |
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