Ok, I take it from some previous posts that it's not such a great idea to have an adult goat (3+ years old) de-horned. It can be done, but is quite tramatic to the goat and a very real health hazzard (to the goat). So now I wonder if there is some sort of device that can be atatched to the end of the horns to make them less dangerous? Something like a big brass doorknob or something? Not as good as "no horns", but a lot safer than those sharp points. Haven't seen anything in the goat books and catalogs.

-- Les (lvaughn@suntransformer.com), April 25, 2000

Answers

I've seen people around here cut a broom handle the width of the horns and use black or duct tape to hold it in place. It serves 2 purposes 1. no sharp points sticking into you or another animal 2. if the goats acting up you have a handle to grab hold of. Of course this has to be retaped every once in awhile. I would think brass doorknobs or anything heavy would make a worse weapon. We use wire caps on roosters talons so if you could find something lightweight to screw on that would be great.

-- Sherrie Holcomb (ester@communitygate.net), April 25, 2000.

There are weights and horn covers for cattle. Try a cattle catalog. I haven't seen them for a long time, but they do exist.

If you put weights on the horns to curl them around, that would help with keeping the points from being such a problem. The Nubians I used to have years ago had horns that curled back around and so their horns were never a problem. The Nubians I have now, their horns go straight out with only a slight curve and so we de-horn. We had one that we had to take to the vet when she was 2 to de-horn and she did fine. The biggest problem is infection. I had an older goat that knocked one of her horns off and we had to have the vet finish the job and she did fine as well.

I currently have a couple of little bucks that they and their horns grew at a fantastic rate and we didn't get them de-horned in time and will have to have the vet take care of it.

-- beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), April 25, 2000.

Les, I've seen goats with tennis balls stuck down over their horns and glued in place.Seems to keep them from stabbing things.

-- Julie (juliecapasso@aol.com), April 25, 2000.

I've heard of the tennis balls too. Its not all that bad of an ordeal if you have an experienced vet do it. Is this goat in with others? What kind of fence do you have? Thats my biggest worry about horns on a goat is them getting their heads stuck in the fence. Take care... good luck!

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), April 25, 2000.

If you can get a vet who will dehorn for a reasonable price,I would still go ahead and do it. I did once try the tennis balls- stuffed them with rags and duct taped them to the doe's horns.She was a mean old biddy and managed to scrape them off. If she was around again,I'd drill a couple of holes through each horn and wire the stuffed tennis balls on. They do look funny with them on!!!!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), April 25, 2000.

Bicycle Handle Bar Grips. But be warned they will be the laughing stock of the goat yard! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 26, 2000.

Les: Seems I'm the only one who does this with any regularity. I've de-horned animals all my life, never lost one. For less than the price of a vet call, you can purchase a set of large calf dehorning gouge type cutters. Gouge the horn out as deep as you can, I take one off at a time, then use a disbudding iron to 1: Coagulate the blood flow, 2: Create a third degree burn around the wound, this stops the pain, from nerve damage, 3: To kill the horn base so it won't scur later, 4: To create a solid base to the wound so flys won't bother it as much, 5: To kill any infectious bacteria present at the wound site. Go ahead, You'll be glad you did. Randy Henry (JaRaCo)

-- Randy Henry (JaRaCo) (JaRaCoRanch@aol.com), April 26, 2000.

Mercy! That last answer sounds kind of hard on the goat! I assume Randy is not talking about doing that to an adult animal (I hope?!) For what it's worth, I've had a number of goats over the years, horned and de-horned. I KNOW the hazards of horns, but have never once had an incident here. Whereas, I did have a baby goat go into shock immediately after the de-horning procedure, and I had a vet do it. (I know this is unusual). My 2 cents: it's bad enough doing the babies,(I do not de-horn anymore) and I can't IMAGINE doing an adult. If the tennis balls don't work, I hope you will take the animal to a vet so it can be anesthetized for the procedure. Taking the horns off a fully conscious, adult goat seems pretty brutal to me.

-- Shannon (Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary) (gratacres@aol.com), April 26, 2000.

It;s costly to have a vet. put the animal out and then dehorn .How about maybe just a shot from your vet to put the goat in la la land.I have a goat who needs to be dehorned or shot !I vote for some pain for her to live.She has tried to horn the new lambs ,cows ,pigs and us for no reason .Sorry she's going to lose this battle not me.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), April 26, 2000.

Folks: I've done this many times. No goats in shock, never one that came close to dying. They do not holler as much as kidds do when disbudding. The actual severing of the horn is not as traumatic as it sounds, judged by their reactions. The sensitive part is the skin area surrounding the horn, on Mature animals the horn itself is hollow. There're one or two, very small arteries that will squirt. These are stopped immediately by the disbudding iron. I've used this technique on many adult does. They always get up and resume normal activities. The folks I did it for considered that it saved the lives of the goat. I've de-horned many adult cattle the same way. My de- horners for cattle are just larger, that's all. I wouldn't attempt this procedure on a mature buck goat however. Their horn bases are so close together, seems it would be necessay to remove most of the top of their heads, their bases are too close together to correctly apply the de-horners, wouldn't be able to get between them. Randy Henry (JaRaCo)

-- Randy Henry (JaRaCo) (JaRaCoRanch@aol.com), April 26, 2000.

Thanks everyone for all the good information! It sounds like someone who knows what they are doing could do this fine. Me on the other hand, well I called a local vet (as local as it gets around here)and he said he would do the job for me. He said to wait until fall though, so the flies will be less of a problem. My goats aren't mean, they don't try to goar me or the other animals, but the thought of getting one of those horns in my belly or other area makes me quite uneasy. This fall those horns will go. Any future babies will get disbudded as soon as possible too. In the meanrime, I think I will try the tennis ball idea. Thanks again.

-- Les (lvaughn@suntransformer.com), April 26, 2000.

Cattle and Goats are to totally different animals. Yes you can gouge out cattle horns. Goat horns are attached to the scull and sinus cavity. If you do cut off horns or gouge them out you will have a hole that goes directly into the sinus cavity, they can even be bleeding out of their noses. Unless this hole is packed or skin from the surrounding area stitched over this area you are just asking for infection. Two main veins are also attatched in this area, and unless these are pulled, the animal will bleed to death. Yes I also use a disbudder that is made for cattle, I just have it modified down to burn a 1" or 3/4" circle, so yes it gets cherry red and I have used it before to cautirize bleeding vessels. But to give this type of information, publicly, especially in a more traditional homesteading type forum? No. We have folks who won't even watch their kids get disbudded here at the farm, a man nearly threw up here once when a doe had just kidded, and had her placenta still intact! And I thought I was the only one who bombarded the newbie's! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 26, 2000.