A Rough Day For The Boys

There are only two days that are difficult for the male goat kids, sale day & castration day. Unfortunately today was the day for castration. The boys are getting to an age that they are sexually mature. This makes them crazy with hormones and they want to breed more than eat, especially when surrounded by the girls. It is important to either castrate them or separate them from the girls to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Goats don’t have the same understanding of ethics and will even breed their mother or sister given the chance.

There are multiple methods for castration including cutting, banding, and chemical. We try to choose the most natural way that is not painful so we choose to band. I hate the idea of using chemicals when not necessary especially for an animal meant for the food chain. Cutting is quick but unfortunately comes with some pain and bleeding. With banding, a rubber band is placed to cut off blood flow. Then the testicles will die and fall off over the next couple of weeks. This method is not painful to the goat and only causes momentary distress by us handling them. For the next few hours they will be a little down but no screams of pain and no bleeding.

It only takes a few minutes and the boys were back out on the pasture to be with their moms and sisters. They will spend the entire summer together until sale day. They may not be up for play time tonight but tomorrow they will be up and running around.