Horn saw??

[RockyToggRanch]

I bought a bone saw to remove scur horns from my Togg buck. One is pressing against the back of his head. The saw did not have any instructions for use. It's a very long wire with two handles. How does this work? Any tips on how to go about this procedure? I googled...but found nothing.

I would typically post this on BYH, but I'm unable to get signed onto that site for some reason:/

 

[bigredfeather]

I helped my friend cut off the scurs off one of his bucks using this type saw. To use the cutting wire, it needs to make a sawing motion(back and forth). That is what the handles are for. We put the buck on the stand, put the cutting wire at the base of the scur, and cut it as fast as we could. I must warn you, this is a procedure that can go wrong. The horns of a goat are connected to their sinus cavity, and after you cut, there can be a lot of blood. The blood will come out of it's nose as well. We used a dehorning iron to try and calderize where we cut. It really didn't work that well. We also covered the area with flour and stuck toilet paper in it to absorb the blood. That buck was very pale and lathargic for several weeks. He had called a vet about doing this, and some wouldn't even do it, and others said sedation was required.

IMHO, if you have an expensive buck, I wouldn't do this myself. It would best be preformed by a vet with anesthesia available. i must also say, it seemed pretty painful. I would have never tried it on one of my animals.

 

[patandchickens]

I looked into this over the summer as one of my wether's natural-scur horns grows a bit weird (I am still not sure whether I'll ever have to do anything about it). I was looking more for advice on trimming horns, and remember seeing suggestions to, if possible, just remove a bit at a time, going back a month or so later to take more off if necessary, to reduce the chances of accidentally causing major dangerous bleeding. Alternatively one can try to remove the whole horn right at skull level, which is even more dangerous. Bleeding and sinus-cavity (or even brain) infection are cited as signficant risks.

The wire saw is operated as previous poster says.

If you google "dehorn saw" or similar phrases you will find a bunch of pages with informative descriptions (it's easier for you to just do the search yourself than for me to post a bazillion links)

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Dehorning to remove the scurs is a kind of nasty procedure. We had to do it to my whether because his horn was growing against his head and rubbing. The procedure looked very painful and was VERY bloody! I like Pat's idea of taking off only a little at a time. I think that would reduce a lot of the risks! Though it might cause more stress for the goat.

I think you definitely need a cauterizing iron to help stop the bleeding. I do remember our vet charged us very little to the procedure and if I had to do it again, I would probably call out a vet. I don't have a weak stomach at all, but the thought of doing the dehorning myself makes me a bit queasy!

 

[Hound]

If you have hoof nippers you can use those to take the tip off the scur, if it's not too thick. Little and often, don't try and cut the whole thing off in one go.

 

[Sumatra503]

Mostly a horn is like a nail in a way. The very end doesn't contain much bone or blood vessels. Snipping off the end is generally fairly painless. It needs to be done often just like trimming a nail.

Do they allow scurs when showing?

 

[Attack Chicken]

Sorry I said anything...

 

[Hound]

Quote:
Dehorning a calf you wouldn't have major blood loss. But dehorning a grown cow there would be significant bleeding.

 

[bigredfeather]

A cows horns are not part of it's sinus system like a goat, so not really the same thing.

 

[critterranch]

you can band horn with castratings bands have done this many times. it really works. i have done 18 inch horns with this method. and have had results in 3 weeks. did not cut horn at all but banded with 2-4 bands. depends how still goat stands in stand lol. but it works it is slow and things heal up very fast. just have too make sure no flys get to it. i do in colder weather. you can search on backyardherds.com if you want. i am think outside the box kind of person. i have done this to 4 does just in the last six months. love it love it. plus i did it by myself with no help. goats stood on stand pretty good.