Goats!!!!!!!

[Evelle]

alright so i need to get this stright i just aquiered two very beautiful 2 week old female pure sannen goats. now my understanding is that i have to Debud them in order for my kids to show them for market.


now here are my qestions
1.) is there other classes then just market like what if we dont want to sell them and use the same goats year after year.
2.) i heared that if it female the horns only have to be trimmed is this true and what does that mean just cut the sharp tips off?
3.) how old do they have to be to dehorn

its so sad to watch the poor things be dehorned that i really dont want to go through with it but these goats are for my girl to learn grow with them so does anyone know my options with this situation???
please help im running out of time.
i live in idaho if that helps anyone help me.

 

[redhen]

Call your vet!!!!!!!!! He will tell you all you need to know.

All i can say is... getting their horns burned off as babies is MUCH better than the surgery as older goats... my goat was in SO much pain...
And make SURE whoever is doing it KNOWS what they are doing.... if they dont do it right the horn can grow back...and its a nightmare.

 

[cassie]

They can be disbudded at that age. It involves using a hot iron for about ten seconds on the horn buds to kill the bud. Contact the American Dairy Goat Assn. at www.adga.org for a list of breeders in your area. You can probably find someone to help you. When I had my dairy, none of my goats had horns. I found horns to be a royal pain. If nothing else they would get their heads caught in the fence. As for getting the horns off, the sooner the better.

If you have female goats they would be shown in the dairy classes, not the meat (market) classes. Saanens would not do well in the market class anyway. They are bred for milk, not meat.

 

[Chatychick]

I agree with the 2 above me as I have Dairy goats and the sooner you get them disbudded the better as they forget fast....goats and horns dont work as they get stuck in the fences and also with small children it can cost them their eye or anything by accident. I have Dairy goats and I disbud at 2 wks or younger, some older and I have noticed the younger they are the better. Yes get someone that has dont this before or you will have horns still or scurs. Unless they are males or wethers they wont be shown in the meat goat areas as these are Dairy goats and are shown for milk. I have Saanens here and none of mine have horns. Less chance for them to hook each other or get into the stanchion to be milked. Good luck

 

[shadowpaints]

we dehorn all our baby goats when they are a few weeks old. we dont have the vet do it, but we have a guy at a local dairy who dehorns them for 5 $ each. its not a fun procedure but it only takes a few minutes and they forget about it rather fast.

i live in Idaho too!

what part do u live in? we are just outside of Idaho falls. we have a few dairy goats and several nigerian dwarfs!

 

[elevan]

There are 2 methods of disbudding...the copper ring and the scoop. If you're going to remove the buds do it soon as it's better to do it young than older.

Personally my goats have horns, but I don't show and I don't care about others opinions on it since they are my goats.

 

[cassie]

Quote:
I had goats for over 40 years, but I don't personally know anyone who has used the methods you described to disbud baby goats. Everyone I know, myself included, used an electric dehorning iron to cauterize the horn bud. This is done by the time the kid is one week or so of age. One woman I used to know who had just a couple goats used a dehorning paste.

 

[Evelle]

Quote:
well i decided to keep my babys horns after watching utube videos and scaring the pee out of me. so far they are very mild mannered except for the jumping on my car

i live in northen idaho near couer d alene.. but i was born in rexburg and lived in idaho falls till i was five

most my family lives down there..

thelma and lousie

 

[BooBear]

Awe they are so cute.

 

[Evelle]

Why thank you!!
they are my First animal babys. ive never seen an animal have babys so im kinda attatched