# Disbudding didn't work



## Honeytoto (May 8, 2010)

We had our goats disbudded twice and I am so discouraged that half of them still have one horn coming. Something went really wrong even though I had someone else do the disbudding.

Anyway, now I guess we need to band them, but I need some real advice how to take care of that. Does it cause them pain or is it similar to castration by banding?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Moira


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

its similar to castrating by banding. I have not done this personally but others on the board have. they should chime in here soon to give your their experiences.


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## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

I had a doeling break off half of her horn at the base.... (so half of the horn was still attached but the other side was not) she was in a lot of pain so I banded it at the base.... by the end of the day she was running around playing with her brother as if nothing was wrong and 3 weeks later the horn fell off.


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## Mon Reve Farm (Jun 25, 2010)

Jess - did you notch the horn with a wire horn saw first?


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I've done this several times...works really well. Last year we had a couple doelings grow big scurs back in so I banded them and after about 5 weeks they were off. You just have to watch and make sure they don't break them off early or they can have a lot of bleeding...so far we haven't had that problem. I haven't seen any pain displayed when they were banded, but you could tell when the horns would start to come off they would be uncomfortable. We didn't make any notches...just put the band at the very base of the horn....we actually used two bands. Just make sure they don't come loose.


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## Mon Reve Farm (Jun 25, 2010)

Thanks Kylee - we have a doeling that the disbudding didn't take and then a wether that had both horns come back in but one is mishapen.


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## tracyqh (Aug 9, 2010)

My one buckling seems to be growing BIG HORNS since disbudding then a week ago. I hate to re-burn. Should I though or do the banding thing. I want the least stressful.


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## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

I'm going to band my first two that the disbudding didn't work on. I reburned the buck but he's still got some growth coming through now, It's a learning experience for me and now I'm going to burn longer on the younger ones when disbudding. I just don't want to burn mine a 3rd time and I've been told you have to be pretty aggresive about reburning to get all the horn, since it's horn growth and no longer a bud.


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## Fainters (Oct 10, 2007)

I banded 6 adult does this past fall. The reason I decided to do this is that they were getting so aggressive with my polled and dehorned goats that they were causing injuries plus they would guard the barn door and not let the others in during bad weather. I have had pretty good success. I shaved the horn at the base and notched it on either side of the horn. Then I put a band on it and put duct tape over the band to keep them from scrubbing the band off. On the most aggressive ones, they knocked their horns off fighting after 4 weeks and then there was quite a lot of bleeding. 4 have lost both horns and their personality has changed dramatically. 2 have only lost 1 horn so I will have to reband them. I am waiting until they kid so as not to stress them.


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

I'm curious how long you wait to band after you notice horn growth? Do you let the horn grow in or band it when it is small? I ask because the lady I got my nigi wether from had them done really late and I want to have a plan of action incase he starts to grow horn. How long does it take before you know?


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## iddybit acres (Feb 18, 2011)

The lady who did my wether's when i got them said 2- 6 inches no longer though.


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## pelicanacresMN (Dec 29, 2009)

As long as the horn fits in the tip of the iron, I would reburn. My iron is a X50 & takes 10 seconds to burn on each horn bud--that is much better than weeks of waiting for the band/making sure it doesn't slide up/trying to keep the goat from bumping the horn & having a ton of blood to deal with. With my nigerians, I use the dwarf tip on my iron but if I notice horn growth appearing after the initial burn, I then use the regular standard size tip to reburn--some bucks are impossible though. I had a buck that was disbudded 3 times by the original owner & he still grew a full horn--which we later banded with success. He sure knew how to use that horn against the other goats at feeding time & thought he could open the gate by repeatedly bashing the horn against it so we had to remove it for safety reasons. We did our best with a file to make a groove at the base of the horn, I think we applied two bands & duct taped it the best that we could.


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