I just removed a doeling's horn today. I had disbudded her last spring, but the horns grew anyway(must not have kept the iron there long enough). One of the horns grew sideways, and she was continually getting her head stuck in fences and feeders. Then the other goats would pick on her and she couldn't get away from them. I used OB wire to saw the horn off this morning. It was really hard to get her to hold her head still enough to work on it( don't blame her though). once the wire started cutting into the horn, she started yelling and throwing a fit, but I couldn't very well leave it half done. It bled a lot, and when the horn finally came off, was bleeding steadily, and where the horn had been, there was a hole going into her head. I cauterized the wound with the dehorning iron to stop the bleeding and burned around the rim of the horn. Then I bandaged it up with gauze pads and vet wrap. After it was all over, she seemed better ( at first I was afraid she'd go into shock)and when I put her into a pen to recuperate she started eating. The other horn was even bigger, and I didn't have the stomach to cut that one off, too, so I banded it with two elastrator bands.

I just wanted anyone who might sometime consider cuting horns off a goat, to know that it is really a bloody,messy, procedure. Kidding season is coming up, it really pays to do a good job disbudding those kids!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 05, 2001

Answers

That ordeal must have really shaken you up. I bought a doe kid last summer that had not been disbudded and so I have been placing elastrator bands on, one horn came off in about a month the other one I have had to replace the band several times, it finally is looking a little wobbly, so hopefully will be off soon.

-- Terri (terri@tallships.ca), January 05, 2001.

Rebekah, Been there/done that. My vet didn’t receive his disbudding iron till my kids were 6-8 weeks old and scurs developed shortly thereafter. I asked if a second disbudding would help, he said no. When the “loose scurs” are knocked off, there’s still bleeding. But one wether (4yr. old now) knocked off a 4" scur, but it was still attached & flopping. He’d sling his head w/a lot of blood running all down his face & in nose. I finally had to yank it off & could see in his sinus cavity. Didn’t think he’d ever stop bleeding, even w/blood stop & a gause strip to help stop the bleeding. Last time vet cut off immobile, solid horns (same goats) there was lots of blood. It sounds logical to use the disbudding iron after cutting scurs/horns & wonder if it will help deter any future horn growth. Thanks for your post, appreciate what you went through. Also glad to read the post about banding, I don’t know if it’ll work on 4-yr. old goats scurs/horns, but will try it.

-- Marsha (CaprisMaa@aol.com), January 05, 2001.

Marsha visit these sites:

http://www.skybusiness.com/goatscanada/index91.html

http://www.greatgoats.com/management.html

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 06, 2001.

I heard that spider webs work well to stop bleeding if a goat looses a horn. You grab a handful and put it on.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), January 06, 2001.

Cayenne pepper is great for that, too, but I had the dehorning iron hot and ready. I wanted to burn out the rim of the horn anyway.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 06, 2001.

Click on these pictures for text, "How to dehorn a large goat". Show and tell time.

How to Dehorn Large Goat

-- JR (jr3star@earthlink.net), January 07, 2001.

Dehorning large goats

Some times I'm the wiper and some times I'm the bug. Copy this into the browser. It works for me the other did Not!

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=981667&Auth=false

-- JR (jr3star@earthlink.net), January 07, 2001.

Thank you JR, I looked at that, what I noticed was that they left a pretty big stump of horn on. I wanted the horn base flush with the head in case I ever wanted to show her or just take a picture of her for advertising. Why do they wrap the horn wwith duct tape before sawing it off?

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 07, 2001.

Vicky, I looked at your links also, I am glad to see such a complete coverage of using the elastrator bands. I didn't know that such large horns could be done!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 07, 2001.

Has anybody HERE used the bands on the large horns??? What was the result?? I have a large horned "rescue" goat that I want to dehorn before she goes to anyone. Money is too tight for a vet right now but I am not into torture (me or the goat!!!)

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 07, 2001.

Vicky, Thank you for the links. Now to order the elastrator bands, but suspect flies/bugs will be a problem by the time the horns fall off. Pesty gnats were out today enjoying the sunshine in SE GA! It's still a much better/humane solution. Thanks!

-- Marsha (CaprisMaa@aol.com), January 08, 2001.

Diane, no I haven't used the method, but honestly if you looked at the site I sent, look at the total numbers of animals she did and email her and talk with her. I disbud at birth, really don't have the opportunity to purchase horned animals since registered show stock is disbudded. But I really wish I had had this information back when I started, because I did pass up some very nice animals because they had horns. I also would possibly have stayed with the boers longer, being able to dehorn my original does. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.

Thanks Vicki, I tend to be timid about new stuff. I have always passed on the horned ones also and I disbud my own kids with the iron and never have trouble. I will try, as this little doe is sweet and someone could really enjoy her. If it works I might even keep her myself, but I just can't have her in with my dairy goats. How is your buck to doe kid ratio going anyway??? It sounded like you were having the kind of year I had once.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 08, 2001.

Diane, 14 bucks and 1 doe kid :) I did have a lucky break though, friends of mine who are selling some stock, had me over to get some pictures, to put on my sales list. Their stock was so nice I bought two doelings to keep my single company and they gifted me with a buckling! If anybody in the Houston area is looking for some very nice registered Nubians, Boers or Boer crosses, (even their boer crosses are raised on bottles!) contact me and I will send you the pics, they are located in Dolen, TX east of Cleveland. Call them for prices and pedigrees, they are not online. Howards, 281-593-3905

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.

pardon my extreme aversion to such torture, but what justification do you people have for such dehorning? i know you must have some "reason" for it, but mine will never be subjected to such barbarism. vegetarians are always being held down by the man! nobody pulls dogs' teeth out!

-- mike (vegemike@yahoo.com), September 19, 2001.

Mike have you ever seen a goat who died from being stuck in a fence ? How about a 2 year old human child who got stuck with a horn by accident ? Another goat dead with a large hole thru its lungs from a horn puncture?The list can go on but I hope you are smart enough to understand why we do it .Do you have children ?

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), September 19, 2001.

Heavens Mike! Of all the goat things we have discussed on this board, you pick the most benign thread to pitch a hissy about? Everyone who has horned goats, spend all their time figuring out ways of keeping their goats heads from being stuck in fences, stuck in feeders, from poking each other, from killing each other, and from horning people, either by accident or on purpose. Folks tie boards to goats heads so they can't get their heads through the fence, bicycle handle bar grips are shoved onto their horns, tennis balls the list goes on and on. So instead, we disbud them. We milk our goats, which means handling them 2 times a day, makes milking stanchions, and the whole process eaiser with disbudding. Feeding and haying are less wasteful without horns, since they can get their heads into feeders, it is safer for children to be around hornless goats. In the correct hands, disbudding is quick and easy. And if you actually looked at the sites, I gave, last year on this thread, look at the shear numbers of does this gal de-horned, without one loss. Just ask my goats, they think hoof trimming is alot more torture than disbudding was when they were 1 week old! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 19, 2001.