Elastrator Band Dehorning GRAPHIC New pics pg 10

[helmstead]

Rebeccah is now a dehorned doe

Her half horn came off today.

I will post pics, probably tomorrow, for those interested.

 

[bUg_Farm]

Good news!

 

[MissPrissy]

Kate, maybe I missed it but - what are you doing to keep the open sinus clean and free from debris that could cause an infection.

This process has intrigued me but I am still fearful of what could happen when there is a hole in the top of their head straight down into their sinus.

Things like this make me a little nervous.

 

[Jenlyn9483]

Can't wait to see pics.

 

[ksacres]

Quote:
She said there was a dime sized hole left that she covered with a screen/mesh like cloth. Not bad considering that surgical dehorning would leave a hole AT LEAST the size of a half dollar, if not a tennis ball...

 

[helmstead]

Okay - here's the finished product.

As you can see, the left horn came away prematurely, leaving a scab.

 

[Haviris]

The goats I dehorned with the banding method did not end up with holes in their heads, I would assume this was a fluke? (because of the way it was knocked off maybe?)

 

[MissPrissy]

The green wet looking area around the site - is that from cleaning and antibiotic meds? Or from the green band?

I am amazed.

She hasn't been in discomfort that you can tell?

 

[conroy]

Quote:
I was going to ask the same question...

 

[helmstead]

No, the holes aren't a fluke. The sinus cavity is part of the horn, and when you remove the horn, there will be a hole unless the horn takes so long to come off that the hole already had time to close beneath the band. The other side is when something occurs like on her left horn, where it comes off early. The scab will hide the hole, which often closes as the scab heals.

The wet look is the shiny scab - which is dry. The yellowish stuff is antibiotic spray. The band is gone and doesn't stain or anything like that. I've had her on a course of injectable antibiotics since that last horn detached as a precaution as well.

She did have discomfort about half way through the process as the horns began to slough (about the same time as the first pictures were taken). I administered Banamine for that. TODAY she is in no pain. Actually, I weaned a kid yesterday and introduced his dam into Becky's pen and they BUTTED each other (the dam was horned) over and over. I cringed like mad, but Becky was unaffected.