Proud cut or...?

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

What is the best way to tell if a steer has not been cut fully or a testicle was missed. I'm starting to question my "steer", hes gotten a little bit aggressive lately and is trying to mount my horses and lamb. I can not feel anything in that area but i know its possible that one has not dropped. When i got him he was banded but it fell off after a few day of having him. Thanks!

 

[DLD]

Try getting him layed over on a hoof trimming table and checking then - if he has a testicle left, you should be able to feel it then.  If there's still any question, have a vet check him to make sure.

A couple of years ago we bought one that had been banded, but as he got older we started to question whether they got both of them, so we checked him on the hoof trimming table, and sure enough we could feel one. I made an appointment with a vet to get it out, and he found both of 'em still in him - apparently they had only banded off sack. He was right at year old when we finally got 'em out, but he went on to make the premium sale at the Tulsa State Fair.                                                                                                                                                                           

 

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

I'm almost 100% sure that he wasn't castrated fully. When feeling you can feel one * we think*, so I'm not sure if it was missed or wasn't banded correctly or maybe  it dropped late. I have a friend that had the same situation, and hers ended up bloating and dieing. What are my options, am i better off taking the risks with trying to get him cut or just taking him to the fair and if it gets noticed, playing dumb about it. The check in day for fair is April 14.

 

[DL]

Just because you can't feel it doesn't mean it isn't there - have your vet draw blood for testosterone  - that will tell you - steers should have almost unmeasurable testosterone

 

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

I dont have the $$ for a vet to come do that...

 

[CAB]

I sold one last fall that had been banded as a day old calf. The buyer called about a month ago questioning whether or not that there could be one testicle left up inside. I told him that I was pretty sure that there wouldn't be one, but he and 4 others said that it felt like there was. One of the 4 was a vet. The vet asked what they wanted to do, the choices being, open him up @ the time or spend $65.00 on the hormone test, they opened him up and it was proud flesh. I remembered vaguely that the calf was hard to get banded, but I wouldn't leave one that I wasn't sure about having both testicles in the scrotum. I would have went and grabbed a knife B4 I left it alone or @ the very least made a note about the calf if I was scared to open him up.
  Question for you. How old is the calf in question? If he is @ finished market weight, you should be be to visibly see the telltale signs of the calf becoming a bull. Even if you did decide to do the testosterone test, you would be up against it as far as time goes to get anything done & healed up B4 fair. You'll have to make a quick decision as to whether or not you are going to do something or let it go if your fair is 4/14. JMO. Good Luck, Brent

 

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

I would say hes about 10 months and weighs 1050lbs. I had a friend come look at him and she felt what she thought was one, and she had one with the same situation and had to sell it before the fair because of the bloat. She was out alot of money,i know that the risk you take but i CANT loose this mony ive put into him. I would rather just let him go to the fair and with alittle calf calm i think he will do fine, i just don't want to get it noticed by a fair official an be disqualified...

Did you as the seller of the calf pay for anything, i was thinking of contacting the guy i bought him from...

 

[CAB]

  No I didn't offer to pay for anything, but may have if the calf did in fact have a testicle in him. I was 99.9 % sure that he wouldn't. Does the calf have characteristics of a bull? He should have if he's that old. The bloat problem was not related to whether the calf had a testicle in him, otherwise all of the bulls in the country would be bloating, right. So forget the neighbor's bloat deal. Take the calf to the fair and have fun. If the calf is looking staggy the judge may comment on it or not. If I was judging your show & thought that he was & looked the part, I would place him accordingly & mention what I was seeing, it would be a part of judging that particular class of cattle on that particular day, so again, you need to look @ your calf & decide, does he look like a bull or is he staggy looking. If you can, post up a good pic of him and we will take a look and tell you what we think. Good Luck. Brent

 

[Jill]

I wouldn't mess with him for a fair in April, it will take a while to heal no matter what you do and you may end up with a steer off feed and at the weight your at you really can't afford that.  No reason to waste the money unless you have a noticable testicle hanging down, they don't cause bloat so no reason to worry about that.

 

[dutch pride]

We had this same issue a few years ago. daughters calf started to show signs of being a stag and becoming aggressive. He looked like he had been cut. The guy who bought him for us contacted the breeder he bought him from and we we assured that two testicle had been cut from him. As fair time got closer, he became harder to handle so we decided to leave him home rather than risk an issue at the fair. We fed him out and when we had him farm butchered, we asked to gut to watch for it and sure enough, he had a retained testicle above the abdominal wall. It was small and poorly developed. Not sure if he had three to begin with or if we got poor info from breeder. Breeder did offer $100 off on another calf but did not think that was a very good deal.

Our fair requires them to be casturated and if your is riding other animals, I do not think I would risk bringing it to the fair and having a possible injury to yourself or others.

DLZ

 

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

He has not been out with my horses because of the heat issue we are having, but i took him to a show on the 15th and he really was find around all the other animals. So that wouldnt really be a problem for me, its more of the judge or fair official finding out. Ours are required to be casterated as well...

 

[DL]

IMHO you have several choices and these are determined by your ethical values and what will allow you to sleep at night. Clearly from your original question you think there is an issue

1) You can choose to find enough money to get the testosterone run - if it is high you know he has a retained testicle and you can ship him; if it is low then you know his behavior is unrelated to raging hormones
2) You can choose to ignore what you perceive to be a problem and take him to the show and pray a lot that he behaves and no one suspects
30 You can choose to ship him because you are worried that he was not fully castrated

The choice is yours - if you can't sleep at night then perhaps you made the wrong choice

 

[Jill]

I will say that mounting doesn't really mean anything.  We had a steer we kept until he was 7 or 8 because he was so good at heat detection, we could leave him in the pasture without having to worry that anything was getting bred.  If you can't feel or see anything I sure don't know why you wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

 

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

I sleep just fine at night... Ill put a few pictures up an you guys can let me know if you think he looks "bull like".

 

[kanshow]

We keep heifers & steers in separate pens in the feedlot because if a heifer comes in heat, the STEERS will ride her to death. 

 

[farmboy]

a couple years ago my buddy had a heifer in heat a the fair and had a steer in with her, had to separate them for a couple days

 

[yousesteers]

Steers will ride I know of some guys that used to keep there show steers over until it was time to AI fall cows and use the steers fro gomers they would ride and coould not breed I knife all my calves so we know we get them had a neighbor buy a steer that was banded they only got one and he bred there another kids show hefer at state fair dont know how that ever came out

 

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

Here are a few current pictures of him...

 

[OH Breeder]

He looks nice but bully through his neck and front. You may have retained testicle.

 

[CAB]

Does look somewhat bully through his crest and head. If he was mine, I would still take him, see what happens. Is this your county fair, if so you call the extension director and have him look @ him or possibly your FFA advisor. I agree with Jill in that I don't think this is even close to an ethical question, it's just an honest mistake made by by the PPL that cut him. Nothing that you have purposely tried to hide from anyone. Whatever you decide to do, have fun and good luck. Brent