Unofficial Poll: Do you dehorn/disbud your goats?

[alwaystj9]

That's a piece of hard plastic, a handle from something or other. It's gorilla taped. It's too wide for her to wiggle her head through. I also use PVC pipe for this. I never could figure out how to keep the tennis balls on. I use tennis balls as drain plugs in the water trough.

 

[PioneerChicks]

My awesome grandpa used to keep goats! He would dehorn about half of the male kids. I don't keep goats (sadly).

This is probably a hilarious question to you goat-keepers )), but how do you dehorn a goat?

 

[Mylied]

My awesome grandpa used to keep goats! He would dehorn about half of the male kids. I don't keep goats (sadly).

This is probably a hilarious question to you goat-keepers )), but how do you dehorn a goat?

Burn the hornbud with a hot iron until you see skull pretty much. Goat screams the whole time. Or use a caustic paste that also burns the hornbud. Also very painful. I disbudded one time. Forget that. We buy goat fencing and they can't fit their head through to get it stuck.

 

[PioneerChicks]

Burn the hornbud with a hot iron until you see skull pretty much. Goat screams the whole time. Or use a caustic paste that also burns the hornbud. Also very painful. I disbudded one time. Forget that. We buy goat fencing and they can't fit their head through to get it stuck.

Ah, sounds...interesting. I'll make a not-so-wild guess that my grandpa let somebody else do the dehorning. Thank you!

 

[Weeg]

Burn the hornbud with a hot iron until you see skull pretty much. Goat screams the whole time. Or use a caustic paste that also burns the hornbud. Also very painful. I disbudded one time. Forget that. We buy goat fencing and they can't fit their head through to get it stuck.

This is terrible! Why would anyone do that to a poor goat! This, is why I don't want to dehorn!

 

[Mylied]

This is terrible! Why would anyone do that to a poor goat! This, is why I don't want to dehorn!

Some feel it's necessary. I've done unpleasant things that I feel are necessary to my animals. This is just one I work to avoid doing.

What's interesting is that horns play multiple roles. They are used for defence, used to scratch an itch, and they are used to cool the goat too. They are connected to the sinuses as they grow. Which is why it's better to disbud as kids than dehorn as adults.

I forgot to mention, they make a great handle when you have to catch a goat!

 

[azure_]

If you disbud baby goats, pain is minimal and in any case it is over in a few seconds. When we dehorned mature goats we did not use anesthesia for a very good reason. Goats do not tolerate anesthesia very well. The dehorning, while painful, won't kill the goat but the anesthesia very well might. There are polled goats to be found in every breed of dairy goats, but if you breed polled to polled you can end up with hermaphrodites.

Would disbudding hurt less? I don't want to cause pain

 

[azure_]

Burn the hornbud with a hot iron until you see skull pretty much. Goat screams the whole time. Or use a caustic paste that also burns the hornbud. Also very painful. I disbudded one time. Forget that. We buy goat fencing and they can't fit their head through to get it stuck.

I'm sure there are better ways to do it! I don't think you need to make them scream

 

[Mylied]

I'm sure there are better ways to do it! I don't think you need to make them scream

There's not. This is how vets do it too.

 

[alwaystj9]

Most are dehorned/disbudded as tiny babies, it is simplest then. They are burned with a cauterizing iron usually. It is required by some breeds/groups for showing. Honestly, it is safer for the handlers and it is done routinely on dairy goats in milking herds. Baton Rouge Zoo only has dehorned or polled goats in their Kidzoo and I would imagine most petting zoos do the same. I bring in a polled buck every few years to keep some polled genetics in my herd but the polled genes can also throw some hermaphroditism (never had that happen). Whenever I have young polled males, the zoo wants them (they neuter them), they got 2 from me this year.
I leave my horned goats, well, horny. It makes them so much easier to grab hold of. My daughter did get a horn stuck through her hand once and it is quite a scar. It was a complete accident, the goat turned her head just as Stormy went to swat at a goat who was being pushy.
I understand the whys and how the practice is done but don't do it myself.

Attached is a link for a common sense article showing how it is done:
https://www.weedemandreap.com/how-disbud-dehorn-baby-goat/