Squeezing Weanlings

Charlie Charolais

Hey lads,

I have a few weanlings bought in recently;
they will all be wintered, some in slats & some outwintered, put to grass next summer, & sold as stores next back end.
When is the best time to squeeze them, now or next spring? (they need to be squeezed before the grass as i'm not set up for bulls)
I reckon they will thrive better as bulls for the winter & squeeze them at turnout next April?
Any opinions/experiences would be appreciated

CC

bogman_bass

far too old to be squeezed as yearlings. Correct me if i'm wrong but I dont think its legal to castrate them when they're that old

reilig

Agree with bogman.

The older that they are when you do the job on them, the harder on them it will be. It will stunt their growth. Better to stunt their growth when housing than when they are being let out and you want them to thrive on cheap feed (grass).

Don't know what the max legal age is, but I'd always try to do one that I'd be keeping at under 6 months.

pakalasa

Wait till the weather is good and they're well settled in before doing them. Less pneumonia !

Bizzum

pakalasa wrote: »

Wait till the weather is good and they're well settled in before doing them. Less pneumonia !

I'm led to believe they swell less if squeezed when out rather than done on housing on slats.
I have done bulls on slats myself and they were fine though!

charityboy

anyone ever use the bands on them ,heard it not supposed to be as hard on them never used them myself though

Bizzum

charityboy wrote: »

anyone ever use the bands on them ,heard it not supposed to be as hard on them never used them myself though

I never used the bands but I know a man that does. It's my understanding that they go on very young and are unsuitable for weanlings that you would buy in. He tells me they are a great job though!

pakalasa

Bizzum wrote: »

I'm led to believe they swell less if squeezed when out rather than done on housing on slats.
I have done bulls on slats myself and they were fine though!

When I said to wait till they settled in, I meant settle in the farm. Far better to do them while they are still out alright.

As for the bands, we got the vet in to castrate a bought in 18 month bull once. He insisted ( the vet that is, not the bull ) on banding him. When I said to him, why don't you use the burdizzo. His reply was - "Do you want to do him?". Far easier put on a band on a strong bull. Dont forget the tetanus injection.

BeeDI

Wait till the moon is going back! Very important, if you want to minimise swelling.

reilig

BeeDI wrote: »

Wait till the moon is going back! Very important, if you want to minimise swelling.

Does Lunar Tidal Pull have that much of an impact on swelling???

BeeDI

reilig wrote: »

Does Lunar Tidal Pull have that much of an impact on swelling???

Listen, just because you brown nosed your way, to a moderators job, doesn't mean that you can laugh at thousands of years of mans observations as to the effect of the moon.:D:D
I would NEVER, squeeze a bull unless the moon is waning. It has a significant effect.:cool:

reilig

BeeDI wrote: »

Listen, just because you brown nosed your way, to a moderators job, doesn't mean that you can laugh at thousands of years of mans observations as to the effect of the moon.:D:D
I would NEVER, squeeze a bull unless the moon is waning. It has a significant effect.:cool:

I don't doubt you . . . . . But thousands would :D

pakalasa

Well, the recent bad weather also coincides with the the full tide. Full or highest tide was on Friday (Galway). That's why the old people waited for the moon to wane. You're more likely to get good weather. Based on observations rather than superstition.;)

F.D

so what is the regs towards squeezing them leaving moons aside,
age limit? (not sucklers)
are u required to give them anistetic (heard of a few lads injecting them with penicillin at the same time to stop swelling)

Bizzum

pakalasa wrote: »

When I said to wait till they settled in, I meant settle in the farm. Far better to do them while they are still out alright.

Just to clarify, that too is what I understood from your earlier post.

adne

pakalasa wrote: »

Bizzum wrote: »

I'm led to believe they swell less if squeezed when out rather than done on housing on slats.
I have done bulls on slats myself and they were fine though!

When I said to wait till they settled in, I meant settle in the farm. Far better to do them while they are still out alright.

As for the bands, we got the vet in to castrate a bought in 18 month bull once. He insisted ( the vet that is, not the bull ) on banding him. When I said to him, why don't you use the burdizzo. His reply was - "Do you want to do him?". Far easier put on a band on a strong bull. Dont forget the tetanus injection.

Why would u castrate an 18 Mth old bull??

Bizzum

adne wrote: »

Why would u castrate an 18 Mth old bull??

I can't answer for Pakalasa, but in our case over the years we would have ended up with the very odd strong one or a bull that would either slip through the loop or be bought in. When your set up is for bullocks and not bulls, the burdizzo may be introduced!

pakalasa

adne wrote: »

Why would u castrate an 18 Mth old bull??

This is going back a while, before bulls became fashionable. Bought in and we were planning on keeping him for another year. Didn't want the hassle of dealing with a bull.