# What if I don't get the cap off (disbudding)?



## mtmom75 (May 19, 2011)

I disbudded my 2 doelings today. I got a good white ring on both of them, so I'm happy with that. The problem is that one of the doelings scared me half to death and stopped crying and got kind of limp toward the end. She wasn't unconscious, just got more calm and seemed to give up fighting. :shocked: I didn't want to make things any worse, so I stopped right then and didn't pop the caps off on hers. Do you think she's going to get scurs even though there was a good white ring on both sides? I guess I could put her back in the box tomorrow and try to get the caps off if I need to. I just couldn't do any more today.

Edit: I should add that she was fine once I put her back with mom, so no damage done.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

I don't pop the caps on mine and very rarely have scurs. I'm sure she will be fine.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

I dont pop the caps off of all of mine and they have turned out good so far.


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

I went ahead and popped the caps on mine, and they all seemed to relax about 1/2 way thru... It made me a little nervous too, but all have been fine! Congratulations! on a job well done!


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## mtmom75 (May 19, 2011)

Oh I'm so happy to hear that some of you don't always get the caps off and have had okay luck with it. I'm going to cross my fingers and hope for no scurs. Thanks for replying.


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## mtmom75 (May 19, 2011)

Oh, and Milk and Honey, I guess if the same thing happened to yours, it must be kind of common for them to relax like that. Scared me really bad. I thought for sure I'd killed her. :shocked:


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## mtmom75 (May 19, 2011)

Oh, and another thing lol. I HATE disbudding! It's horrible! But I feel like I'm getting better and more confident at it each time I do it. Maybe one of these days I won't feel like I'm going to throw up the whole time.


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## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

I find that my kids seem to relax too. I think that the initial pain is bad but then things kind of go numb. So I think it can be pretty normal. I don't think anyone really gets used to it...... but it is something that we learn to live with. Congratulations on doing a good job.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

When I left caps on...they ended up getting bad scurs so now I always remove them. :shrug:


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## klingshirnm (Mar 3, 2011)

i never burn down to "white" rings, only down to copper rings, and never pop caps off. I haven't had a goat get scurs yet. I know plenty people who seem to think they do well and I have proof that they don't. You just need to make sure that you get a uniform ring burnt on does and a tear drop on bucks and whethers. The "white" in the rings you are talking about is bone. No need to go quite that far.


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## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

Just wondering how you get a teardrop burn on your bucks??


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## mtmom75 (May 19, 2011)

Peggy - The Rhinehart X50 has a teardrop shaped tip you can buy. I have the X30, so I have to do plain round ones on everybody, but a breeder I know has the X50 and uses the teardrop on her buck kids.


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## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

Thanks, I wondered. I have the X30 also. I know that some people do the figure 8 but I haven't figured that one out yet. You know, exactly where to make the second burn in relation to the first burn......front, rear....etc.


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## mtmom75 (May 19, 2011)

I haven't done the figure 8 yet either. I think I know where the second burn should go, but I haven't tried it. I've only disbudded 1 buckling so far, and I just did regular burns but moved the iron a bit to make them a little more elongated, if that makes sense.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

KW Farms said:


> When I left caps on...they ended up getting bad scurs so now I always remove them


Same here. Until we starting burning the caps we got a lot of scurs. Now, we have a number of really good jobs so I think we finally have it down. And I really really really really HATE it. But we do it.

We also have had them *go limp* and act shocky. They always snap back as soon as they have a bottle, walk a bit and get back with Mom.


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