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Post by canadiankigers on May 8, 2008 23:14:22 GMT -5
As some of you know, Wild Sage Ranch had a colt born out of Honey, by Shelby. Now, here is what could be a really dumb question. "Mani" was foaled at the end of April and is 10 days old today. While working on picking up his feet, his owners noticed that he has dropped one testicle. I don't have a lot of experience with foals as I have only started breeding 4 years ago, but it seems to me to be a bit early. Has anyone else come across this? Is this normal?
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Post by Michelle Clarke on May 10, 2008 8:07:50 GMT -5
No, it is not too early....in fact some people advocate actually gelding them at 8 days old when thier testicles "drop" (don't get me started on that one!)... mostly they go back up or some stay down, each horse is different. He may just have one hanging out for awhile, then it may disappear. The biggest problem with gelding them early in life is that you may feel two when the horse is standing, then you lay them down to geld them and one goes right back up in there through the ring....oops!
Equine testicles don't really "drop" until the horse is 5 years old.
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Post by fantasykiger on May 11, 2008 12:36:12 GMT -5
While I have heard of mule owner getting in there and gelding their johns in the first month personaly I don't get in there that quick. I do however like to geld my colts while they are still with their dams between 4-6 month of age. No sense waiting around when I do not raise stallions. If I feel them both hanging when they are standing they are fair game for removal...LOL.
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Post by nrly on May 23, 2008 4:38:06 GMT -5
poor babies, but I understand, I personally will wait for a while, like tiffany or maybe a bit longer, I haven't had to make that decision yet, but when I start to breed Stormy or when flashy has this baby and it is a colt then i will face that choice. I worry that to young might not be good, I know waiting to long they get to be a hand full till that testosterone is out of their system, any advice of what is a good age...
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Post by kimk on May 23, 2008 10:53:17 GMT -5
I geld most of mine between 10 and 13 months, although I gelded Juneau at 7 months. Out of all the colts I've had ( quite a few ) I've only kept one intact and that is Kody. And who knows.... he may yet lose his family jewels.
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Post by fantasykiger on May 23, 2008 14:16:19 GMT -5
The life of a stallion can be sad and solitary, sometimes even cruel in the wrong hands. To ensure none of my colts end up that way I geld them, before I sell them because life as a silly gelding is usually much better. There are exceptions and some stallions in the right hands live grand lives and I see that with several Kiger owners and their stallions.
As far as when to geld I gelded Zinga at 4 mths, everyone told me I would stunt his growth. I only wish it would have...LOL. He was my big boy and was sold last year.
I gelded Chips at 8 mths my daughter kept asking me to put it off, he was so willing and so easy to work with she did not want him gelded. But the day had to come, afterword he become foolish and silly, but he is still smart and willing. She said we removed half his brain...LOL ;D and has not worked much with him sense and he is 2 yrs old now. His training up to me now.
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Post by kimk on May 23, 2008 19:24:53 GMT -5
That's interesting. I always heard that the younger you geld them the more height they will likely gain. It seemed to hold true with Juneau. I had him gelded the same day as his full brother from the previous year. Wil ( now 4 ) will likely only mature around 14.2; Juneau ( now 3 ) is already slightly over 14.2.
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Post by Michelle Clarke on May 23, 2008 22:02:19 GMT -5
Testosterone inhibits long bone growth, so they will grow taller if gelded earlier. We do leave most of our boys whole until right before thier third spring. The only times we have gelded them earlier is when they have too much testosterone and overly pick on the other colts or if the new owner and thier situation requires me to get the job done earlier. I find the pure Kigers (at least ours) do not exhibit high levels for the first few years, but Chillis' colts tend to be more on the aggressive side if they are left until 3.
I have noticed though with full siblings that if we geld them early they tend to get more feminine looking and stay on the lighter side - even though they are taller then thier later-gelded brothers. Leaving them whole longer gives them a more bulky, manly look (but of course we leave them together to play 24/7, so they develop lots of muscle). The ones we geld early are harder to train because they really have no drive and tend to get lazy quicker. They are less motivated to move for the most part.
It has been an interesting to see the differences!
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