When do you castrate your wethers?

[Sanhestar]

UC is a death sentence for a wether. If you have a wether that gets it, its about $1500 for the surgery to clear the blockage, flush the bladder and remove the tip of the pizzle. But the real problem is still in the bladder. I can only recall one story about someone who actually saved their wether after surgery. And they put what really comes down to, an unreasonable amount of time and effort into their animal. Most wethers get blocked up again within a month and die.

while I can't speak to what is common practise in the US, a stone is hardly a death sentence any more in Germany.

I've had over the years three wethers develop stones.

Nox - stone at age three, removal of processus, 5 days clinic stay. Costs approx. 200 EUR incl. surgery. Lived well without further problems to age 11 when he died of unrelated causes
Lucky - stone at age 4, removal of processus, bladder catheter, 6 or 7 days clinic stay. A bit more expensive but well under 500 EUR. Still lives, no further problems, 10 years old now.
Olliver - he's the only goat that had un-resolveable stone problems, his story can be read about on this forum. He suffered from a congenital abnormality of the urinary tract and underwent several surgeries for stone removal and was included in a study about endoskopic surgery for stone removal. Developed stones at age 6 and was put down after two relapses.