[jinglejoys]

Much better to disbud but the vets and them in the offices in the city who have only seen a goat in a petting zoo don't make it easy!
   Can anyone tell me why after the vets decided to line their pockets and become a monopoly that  disbudding went up overnight from £2.50 to £15/£30 ?
    I've had the injection type (three in each horn base (horrid) the gas,(Kept having to remove the mask and then keep going) and the knockout type.
  All require taking the kid away from its dam for ages putting it under stress and then the bloody things grow back (Had a couple of unicorns when I had Pygmies)
    In the old days an experienced goat keeper did it,the kids were back on mum in a few minutes and the horns didn't grow back.
   Mind you nowadays people take their goats to a farrier or vet to have their hoof trimmed! Soon it will become illegal for people to trim their own goats!

[Penninehillbilly]

   Can anyone tell me why after the vets decided to line their pockets and become a monopoly that  disbudding went up overnight from £2.50 to £15/£30 ?
   

I think you answer your own question there 

[mojocafa]

If you hate disbudding then why do it ?
I have 15 adult pygmy goats, 19 kids all horned apart from the billie, and what a complete mess his have grown in to be,   
 

[tattycat]

Hiya Penninehillbilly.
How's she doing? You could give her some honey see if that helps. Poor girl.
Mojocafa. I debudd as it's safer for me nd the other girls! Posted before about 'bullying granny'. My experience is that they have horns nd they know how to use them!! Maybe with Pygmies it's not so bad but my girls are HUGE milkers. It's not so much they're aggressive, but accidents happen. My nanny with horns can be quite scary when she has the wind up her tail nd is wanting to play!! lol Nd my 9mth old Togg enjoys aerating the grass...never seen anything like it!

[Penninehillbilly]

Hi tattycat
how should I give her honey? in warm water in bottle? mixed with milk? warm it and try spoon into the side of her mouth?
 
mojocafa, after the bruises I had on my legs from the boys last year, I said never again, but finance dictates,
 - they don't mean me harm, I just get in the way of their boisterous fisticuffs, esp when they see a bucket in my hand and want to be near me :-(. I'm calling these boys Devilish and Demon, hopefully they'll turn out to be little angels to prove me wrong 
I also have boers, but their horns sweep back, not a problem,

[Lesley Silvester]

In the past I've given treacle dissolved in warm water and I give it in a clean dog bowl. Cloud doesn't seem to like it - she's a very fussy goat - so I'll give honey a go.

[tattycat]

Wow. Most of you seem to have fairly knowledgeable vets...not so lucky here, would be better if I had a cow.....

[Penninehillbilly]

Hiya Penninehillbilly.
How's she doing? You could give her some honey see if that helps. Poor girl.

Hi
hopefully she's picking up, I've given her honey in milk, which she guzzles with relish, coughs and splutters have stopped, but she's quite a bit smaller than her sister, been meaning to take some pics. her head is strange, where her buds were are very close together up to her sisters, and they are stilll blueish where her sisters are healing over, also after all that they both have growths starting.
Now to top it all her mum has a cut on one teat, (not deep, more deepish scratch), but she's not letting the kids feed, milked her out and bottle fed the kids tonight, I put honey in and after refusing at first, baby must have tasted the honey and couldn't get enough, wouldn't let go of the bottle :-). I must remember that for if I have a kid who won't take the bottle.

[tattycat]

Penninehillbilly, that's such good news!! As for giving it when it's unwanted, I'll put some on my fingers nd shove them in their mouths!! Generally they realize it's good for them, then watch out for the sweet toothed one's!!
Re any bleeding after debudding or any other wound I use powdered rosemary. It forms a 'scab', it's a painkiller also antiseptic. It's my wonder herb.
I had a girl that got mastitis after a cut on her udder and used warm pulped comfrey for that. A couple of months later she took Champion at one of the local shows..
Fingers crossed little one will catch up.

[Lesley Silvester]

I shouldn't have read this. My babies are being disbudded  on Tuesday. Cassi already has the start of horns so I hope it goes alright.

[Daisys Mum]

Little Mac is going in on Wednesday for disbudding and castrating, I'm going to take Mum along too in the trailer so that they will be separated for the least time possible. I will also be asking them not to cuddle him as last one I had done absolutely stank of perfume and Mum was not impressed, it took a while before she would accept that he was her baby.

[Lesley Silvester]

I am not taking mum so hope she isn't too upset. It has worked out that way in the past.

[tattycat]

Im sure it will go OK for both of youz...

[Penninehillbilly]

I shouldn't have read this. My babies are being disbudded  on Tuesday. Cassi already has the start of horns so I hope it goes alright.

Sorry for the negatives MGM, I'm sure there are hundreds disbudded every year quite safely, and teeny one is much happier now.

[Lesley Silvester]

All went well. I did have one nasty moment though. The vet took one of them and said he would take the other afterwards. When he came back out to the car, he didn't have her and my first thought was that something had gone wrong but it was fine. She was just coming round in the cage inside. They both look like they have milk bottle tops on their heads - do you remember silver top milk? - but it is just the spray which they have managed to spread all over their bodies so now they look like fairies.