Pig castrater

What's a good brand?

I use my Barlow

The old Italians I grew up with used a pocket knife or if they were sippin a little shine and showing off their teeth.

Case stockman

Its best to use small side cuts not much bigger than toe nail clippers and cut them when a couple days old, its easier on them and the operator too. Of course that does away with the RockyMountain oysters.

We just used the little blue disposable type that has a slight hook to the blade, when they get dull you just throw away and get a new one, like fox paw said two days old works but we have done it at 21 days when weaning so all the stress is at one time didnt seem to set them back. One part to that our farrowing house was connected to the nursery and was on wire so they weren’t going outside right away.

Closed jaw Sleepy Creek #4 1/2 long spring.

USPS rubber band

you don't cut the scrotum off, you cut into the scrotum and push out the testicle and than cut it off. I have always used a new single edge razor blade.

Case or Barlow

We always just used a razor knife.

I was taught to cut sack on low point so drainage take effect. Small cut pop out nut , scrape cord in half "better healing ".Final step pack with PURE salt. 15yrs. no problems. Use a razor sharp knife...... Tut

With side cuts you can you make a small snip over each seed and they pop right out and you can use the cutters to get hold of seed but don't squeeze and cut the string but pull it out. Then you cut the needle teeth with same cutters, this really helps get by with less sedative for touchy sows that don't want to suckle, then using the cutters with v toward the pig you cut the tails off but not too close. The v side helps mash the stub to stop bleeding, and lastly you use cutters to notch the ears, so you know the sow they came from and other information. You obviously skip one of the steps for the girl pigs, lol.

Watered down Iodine is your friend and staph is not.

These don't sound right??? Every time a person posts a picture of anything unknown, it's a pig castrated. Now I'm getting answers on this thread of specific items..

We always waited to do it .Grandpa liked the idea of free meat he wanted a 2" pork cutlet in the skillet ,so we cut very few under 50# . He wasnt above buying a big boar and bringing it home and having me cut it,let it heal up and take it back to the sale barn or grind it for sausage. The same with ruptured pigs bring them home sew them up let them heal and take them back to the sale barn . When i was in my twenties and working out of town the pigs that needed worked got out of hand . I think grandpa got a kick out of watching me wrestle 150 or 200 pounder .
I sure miss him but i dont miss his animal husbandry practices

We used to put cresote on the nut sack first then cut, squeeze and pull and cut the cord. They only tuched the nut sack to the ground once, the cresote burned and they did not do that again. ?this is 60 years ago......jk

If you've ever watched Doc Pol, that's what he uses. A rubber band wrapped tightly around the scrotum above the testicles. Eventually, as circulation is cut off from the testicles they fall off and heal at the same time. He says it's less invasive and not nearly as painful.

When I was little (5 or 6)my dad would take fat hogs to the local sale barn, and always come home with a couple 500 to 700 lb old boars. Stunk like the dickens. My 2 grandpas along with a neighbor would come over and tie that ole boar with about a rope on every leg and one on his snout and stretch him out. Grandpa would go in there and cut them ole testicles out . That ole boar pig would be a screaming... usually broke everyone's (standing within 100 yds) ear drums. In a month or so dad would sell them ole boars, after being castrated they lost a lot of ole boar characteristics and he would double or triple his money. I castrated thousand of pigs..... usually about 15 to 20 lbs. Just used a good pocket knife. Never did see a pig castrator that looks like anything most post on here who think it MITE be a pig castrator.

A lot of research now shows banding the more "painful" procedure. Certainly I'm not opposed to either method however as each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

I just cant get my mind around how you would get a band around a pig scrotum. When we use to band calves we always did it a few weeks after weaning they never missed a day at the feed trough when cut or clamped you could figure the pen of bull calves would eat only a third of the feed they normaly would for about three days

You don't. Someone is mistaken regarding what they watched in Dr. Pol. Bands are used for cattle, but not hogs. The scrotum isn't shaped to allow them to work, they need cut.
My experience with bands is the same as yours. Put on the band, kick them out of the chute and they walk straight over to the feed like nothing happened.

You guys are right it was bull calves that he used the rubber bands on not pigs. He did pigs surgically as I recall.

Biggest thing is absolutely administer a tetnus shot at same time .

S&R,

Just use your teeth.

Tetnus toxoid actually needs to be given a couple weeks prior, then a booster at the time of banding. Most people only give tetnus anti-toxin at banding, but it only protects for about a week. I’ve been guilty of it too.

One of you famous hog farmers needs to start a post with a portrait of yourself with the header of, "What is this?"
Then someone can respond with the actual correct answer! It will be a monumental, and epic first.

In perfect world we should always boost vaccines but it dosnt always happen . We never pre vaccinate before castration and havnt had a problem . The only time that we have had a problem was the time that we relied on the 7-way vaccination instead of having a specific tetanus toxoid vaccine the last 2 years we have just taking them to the vet and had them worked it has averaged $13 a head for dehorning vaccinating and castrating our weaned calves he doesn't worry about pre vaccinating before castrating with a knife and dehorning he just vaccinates with a tetanus toxoid vaccine at the time of procedure

Speakin a hogs, we sure have made a nice pork chop. But we’ve bred the tuff right out of em. Used to be the hardiest animal on the farm. Now they’ll sneeze and die.

Ive used pocket knives and scalpels i eaven made a knife for it but day in and dsy out the best thing is a plane old utility knife .baby pigs are easiest with a scalpel