Author Topic: Goats horns? (Read 5030 times)

Connor · « **on:** August 04, 2013, 10:19:07 am »

About 5 months ago i got a goat and she was de-horned but i have noticed that the buds have started to grow again what should i do about this because where i live they don't allow goats to have horns only billy goats!

shygirl · « **Reply #1 on:** August 04, 2013, 11:16:07 am »

this happened to us, we got a goat free to good home whose dis-budding had gone wrong and left her with floppy horns in a bad shape.the breeder told us to trim it with nippers ( farriers tool). in hindsight i think a cutting wire would be better? not sure if its the right approach. can you not put dehorning paste on or is it too late?
my goat managed to rip both horns off in the field (lots of blood) and they never grew back in the year after that we had her for.

wytsend · « **Reply #2 on:** August 04, 2013, 06:42:16 pm »

Dehorning paste is not appropriate for goats..............it can burn a hole in the skull. Should only be used on calves.
The scurs need to be cheese wired off by a Vet & then cauterised with a hot iron. There is a chance they will regrow....but it will be slower.

ScotsGirl · « **Reply #3 on:** August 04, 2013, 08:25:38 pm »

My vet left me the cheese wire so I could take off the horn if it re-grew. She managed to pull off the horn again which keeps growing into her head. Just got to watch not close to blood vessels. Vet told me just to get de-horning iron from local farmer on Standby to cauterise. It is a pain and 4 out of 5 of my girls have mucked up disBudding

jinglejoys · « **Reply #4 on:** August 04, 2013, 09:07:43 pm »

Yep! That just about sums up moden disbuddig done by a "qualified" vet!

ScotsGirl · « **Reply #5 on:** August 04, 2013, 09:32:51 pm »

So how does one find a good vet?? I didn't do kids this year but might consider in future if only to stop them getting stuck in fence.

Anke · « **Reply #6 on:** August 04, 2013, 09:46:49 pm »

Quote from: ScotsGirl on August 04, 2013, 09:32:51 pm

So how does one find a good vet?? I didn't do kids this year but might consider in future if only to stop them getting stuck in fence.

If your vet is keen to work with you, there is a DVD from the Goat Veterinary Society available that gives a really good tutorial on goat disbudding. Only vets can buy it (as no amateur is allowed to disbud their goats nowadays - and for us recent goatkeepers that may be a good thing!), but you could suggest to pay for it for your surgery.

I am lucky that I have an older vet in our surgery and he did lots of them in the 1980s... but the younger one is doing them now too.

You will quite often have some re-growth, most of mine have from time to time, but they usually get knocked off when they have some minor disagreements....

workingcobs · « **Reply #7 on:** August 04, 2013, 11:22:46 pm »

I disbudded a goatling that I owned when I was at agricultural college many years ago - just to be aware, that unlike calves, that there is an extra nerve to be injected with local anesthetic. There is the alternative that I have also seen used on goat horns of elastrator rings, which gradually cut off the blood supply so the horns eventually drop off. It appeared to cause no discomfort to the goat and was successful, with no regrowth. Can't comment on rights or wrongs of this method - but it originally appeared in the vet books by James Herriot!

wytsend · « **Reply #8 on:** August 05, 2013, 05:40:35 am »

Peeps should be very careful not to do anything illegal when disbudding/trimming scurs on a goat.
It is illegal to do the process as kids in any case & the fines arelarge if discovered.
Elastrator rings are not permitted ....... the nerve system of a goat would cause it extreme pain and this method was outlawed in 2006 Animal Act.
Again the use of a calf disbudding iron to cauterise can ONLY be done by a Vet.
Things have changed drastically in the last few years.
The Goat Veterinary Society can tell you which Vets are members of that Society & therefore they are morelikely to have an interest in goats and be efficient.

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #9 on:** August 05, 2013, 08:45:25 am »

Those scurs are a nuisance

All of my disbudded goats grew scurs until they reached a certain age (about 2?) then they just stopped being a problem.
The goatling, Sixpence, has 2 that still grow through for a bit and he tends to knock them off himself when he is play butting his herdmates or the sheep through the fencing.
There's less pressure on us to lose the horns though, tricky for you with that kind of agreement on your land