How long do you leave the bands on bulls?

Question

I am trying to turn my bulls into steers. I put the bands on today. How long do they stay on? or do they come off by themselves? Do you know of any good web sites that may help me? This is the first time I have ever done this.

Answer 1

Banding is the easiest and least intrusive method of castration.  You don't have to remove the bands - an elastrator is designed to cut off circulation to the testicles, effectively killing the tissue.  They die, dry, shrivel up and fall off.  And then the barn cats have fun with them.  It's sick, but rather funny - you'll know what I mean in a couple of weeks.

It's different for various animals when banding is concerned.  If the bull was young and the testes hadn't grown very much, the process is much quicker than a slightly older animal.  Our dairy bucks are usually off in less than two weeks, pygmies take longer as their testes develop quicker (3-4 weeks).  

As long as the animals were banded properly, your work is done.  They'll be steers is a few weeks' time.