having a REALLY hard time deciding to dehorn my goats

[imtc]

I have 2 nigerian dwarf goats (one about 10mo's old and the other about 18mo's) that are very much pets and spoiled rotten. However I have a few issues with their horns. I have small children that are around them all the time along with friends with small kids so am cautious of liability if one of them would injure a child. They are not aggressive but do however use their horns alot to demand attention from me and/or to butt each other away from treats and things like that. (many times very near to my 3yr old daughter's face). They have also been using them to damage things in their yard (like my rabbit cages...just butting at them hard to try to get their food where it's punctured feeders and broken their watering system). I have an appt. for next friday to have them surgically dehorned but am reading information about the process and it's freaking me out. The vet I'm taking them to came highly recommeded and has done hundreds of these procedures with great outcomes but the process itself is really bothering me. They will not be anestesising because they need the goats to be standing thru the procedure but will be giving them meds to make them loopy and controllable "I think" and definately pumping the area with a lot of numbing & pain blockers. I was told they will not feel pain but they will feel pressure and each horn will take aprox. 45 minutes and that it is a very messy thing I wouldn't want to witness. EEK.... So I'm freaking out. Has anyone had this done with their adult goats? I'm really wanting the result of safer animals around my children and property but am really not liking the idea of putting my sweet girls thru that. Would it be similar to us having to have something like a root canal?.....(being awake and aware of what's going on but dead to pain) or far more traumatic? I just don't know what to do and very tempted to call it off.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

You can't dehorn them beyond a week or so old when the horns first start coming in. Sorry.

ETA: Does the vet know the age of these goats?!?!? I've never heard of anyone doing it later...EVER.

 

[imtc]

yes...they know the age and say they do it all the time. He's done hundreds. One of my friends just had hers done and it was an adult doe.

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

I raise fainters. I disbud (dehorn) my babies. But a few years ago before I started disbudding the kids. A client of mine had her two boys dehorned by our vet. They were a little over a year old at the time. It is bloody and it takes the goats a while to heal but it can be done. It's easier on everyone involved (esp the goats) if it's done as babies - but it can be done. Have a vet that has done it before do the deed. My small animal vet said, if asked, he would not do it - find a vet that works with goats, cattle or sheep. Keep us posted.

 

[Celeste]

You obviously researched and found a knowledgeable vet to do this for you. If you feel it is needed for the safety of your kids and property then do what you need to do. Not sure that anyone can really seriously compare it to anything we have done to us, KWIM. I did a lot of research regarding this procedure but I was never able to find a vet that knew what they were doing so I kept horned goats. Good luck in your choice and if you decide to have it done I would love to hear how their healing process went.

 

[greathorse]

My neighbor had a goat and decided not to dehorn or castrate the animal. He ended up with a horse that had a nasty hole punched into its belly (big vet bill) and a goat I could smell from a half mile away. If you find someone that knows how to do it with reasonable safety I would do it. A goat can be quite deadly with those sharp horns.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I had 1 goat dehorned once (she was probably 6-8 mos old) and I would NEVER do it again. UGH. It was bloody and messy and left HUGE holes in the goat's head. She ended up dying later that day that she came home. I've also helped dehorn heifers that were WAY too old and it was awful. That's why I will always disbud when they're babies.

 

[shadowpaints]

we dont do them at a week old, we have always dehorned when their horns are no longer than 3 inches long. everytime i have had them done earlier than that , the bud is missed. sooo we wait . but we also have a wonderful guy at our local dairy who dehorns them for 3 $ a goat....

 

[FireTigeris]

invent a goat hat of some type?

 

[zatsdeb]

I have heard of banding the horns, they slowly get tighter and the horn eventually falls off.
http://www.barnonemeatgoats.com/bandinghorns.html
http://www.justkiddin.com.au/goat-horns.htm