# Disbudding Goatlings?



## Tayet (Feb 9, 2012)

I have never disbudded, my parents think it's a terrible thing to do to baby goats. But this year, two of my babies had one of their horns break off and one was a LOT worse then the other, it bled everywhere and was scary for everyone. And I'd like to hear from everyone who disbuds their babies about why you do it, if you do yourself or have someone come do it. I'm just interested in the subject and possibility of starting to do it.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

My husband does ours. He built a box to hold them and it works much better for us that way. Do it when you just feel the bud popping up....about 2 weeks


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

We disbud. So you're just wanting to know how we do it? U can go to Green Gables Mini Nubians. They will have a "goat care" page and click on "how to disbud a goat". They will have a video on how to do it. Hope this helps you.


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## smshooter515 (Jan 20, 2013)

We raise boer goats. I mostly just disbud the wethers or market does because they make better pets that way and the fair goats for market cant have horns. Otherwise if its a nice doe that im going to keep and possibly show I leave them because they are more desirable that way. If I end up selling something and they want it dehorned I will do it later but I dont like to.


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## Abra (Aug 11, 2012)

I have mine done. I can't do it myself for various reasons, a friend of mine does it for me.

Disbudding a goat increases the price if it is to be sold (at least it does where I am!)
It makes it EASIER to sell the goat! People who are looking for pet goats, or milkers, are more likely to buy a dehorned goat for safety reasons. ESPECIALLY if they have children!
Horns are also dangerous!
In many ways...
They can break off (as you have learned). Because of the amount of blood supply that goes thru the horn, some goats have actually bled to death as a result!
They can injure another goat in various ways. A good friend of mine had her prized buck stabbed in the gut, and he died.
A horn can get caught in another goats collar and the goat can choke to death.
One of my own does had curved horns, and would use them on a younger doeling. She would snag the doelings leg in her horn, and bring her down on the ground screaming. One twitch of her head, and she would have easily broken her leg!
They can get their heads stuck in places and break their necks...
I, myself, almost lost my eye to a horned goat. Not because she was mean, but just because the horns were there. I was leaning over to put more feed in her feeder, and she simply raised her head quickly to look at me. Got me right in the eye! My only saviour were my glasses! The deflected the horn and I got my eyebrow split instead. Not having medical benefits, I ended up using super-glue to patch myself back together, but it could have been MUCH worse if I was wearing contacts that day! (I would not have an eye today!)
A second time a goat swung her head as I was putting hay in a feeder, she thought I was another goat that she didn't like, and got me in the thigh! Again, I ended up using super-glue!

There are many reasons to disbud.

There are reasons not to.

The main reasons I hear NOT to are:
1) Horns help keep them cool on hot days.... (Since I am in Alaska, I do not worry about that, and besides, they have trees to hang out under!)
2) Defense
3) They can scratch themselves.

For me, personally, the Pros of removing the horns far outweigh the Cons...


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## Abra (Aug 11, 2012)

Oh, on another note...
I was dreading having the kids done at first. Scared really... I didn't want to think that they would have to go thru so much pain...
When they get burned, Yes, it hurts like HECK for a split second, but then the iron burns thru the nerve endings, and the pain is gone...
Kids cry mostly because they don't like to be restrained! 
It only takes a few minutes, and by the time it's done, the babies are OK. Mine pranced out as soon as they were done like nothing ever happened, and started playing right away...
It's the smell of burned flesh and hair that bothered me the most...

My friend uses the Fire and Ice method. Burn, Ice to cool (so the brain doesn't overheat), Burn again, Ice, Burn, Ice. Done!

The personal fear of doing it myself, is that I am going to burn too long (which can overheat the brain), or too deep (burn all the way thru the skull). If that happens, the baby dies.
I prefer to leave the burning to the pros! 

That few miserable seconds will pass in the blink of an eye, and will last a lifetime. 
They won't strangle another goat, they won't take someones eye out, they will be safer around kids, and make pets that are safer to handle, and easier to sell... 
To me, it's worth the few seconds of stress 
(When mine got done last spring, I was more stressed out than they were!)


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## Emzi00 (May 3, 2013)

I disbud. I will be doing it myself, I don't trust that the vets round here are goat oriented enough to do it correctly and well. There are many reasons why I'm choosing to disbud. I have registered goats, and they sell for more around here without horns, they can't be shown with horns, and the market here for goats with horns is quite crappy. I'd rather disbud, than have someone buy a horned goat from me and dehorn it, dehorning is cruel IMO. Horns get caught in fences. If they break the horn, it bleeds a lot, and can be fatal. Goats with horns can injure children, me, you, anyone, other goats, purposefully or accidentally. And a dairy goat doesn't look like a dairy goat with horns IMHO.
Those are my reasons.


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

Emzi00 said:


> I disbud. I will be doing it myself, I don't trust that the vets round here are goat oriented enough to do it correctly and well. There are many reasons why I'm choosing to disbud. I have registered goats, and they sell for more around here without horns, they can't be shown with horns, and the market here for goats with horns is quite crappy. I'd rather disbud, than have someone buy a horned goat from me and dehorn it, dehorning is cruel IMO. Horns get caught in fences. If they break the horn, it bleeds a lot, and can be fatal. Goats with horns can injure children, me, you, anyone, other goats, purposefully or accidentally. And a dairy goat doesn't look like a dairy goat with horns IMHO.
> Those are my reasons.


I don't trust vets either. The first time we had babies we had the vet disdud them. They ended up with horns anyway. Please don't let a vet disbud your goats. They don't know how to do it....


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Oh yes I'm the royal witch because I bisbudd according to my family lol. I have a ton of reasons why I do it. I'm sick of my legs looking like someone beat me with a 2x4.....I'm sick of getting my hands smashed getting heads out of fences and I'm done watching them hook each other. I love the horns because its easy to hold them and at first only wanted horned goats so they could protect them self's from pray but my queen I had didn't have horns and she was down right mean.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Not jumping into the debate, lol, but I did want to say that sometimes when a goat is mineral deficient (especially copper) their horns can become weaker and more prone to breaks. In your herd's case their horns always looked healthy, though, so it's probably not the case.

I currently disbud, but will be keeping a wether with horns next year to try it out. There are so many pros and cons, it all comes down to what works for your situation. I like the thought of horns as protection and as a radiator, and I do hate disbudding. But I will probably disbud my does and intact bucklings, so they have more home options as show goats. We may or may not end up with any horned animals, but I do want to try it, just so I'm sure one way or another that I'm doing the right thing, you know?


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

I have to disagree as far as vets disbudding. I had a buckling done last year because I wanted him sedated and anesthetized. He did get scurs, but the vet removed and re-burned him for free and they stayed gone. He thought it was because of the extra testosterone - I didn't band him until after he was disbudded the first time. If I disbud again I'll go back to him, but I don't think I will.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

fishin816 said:


> Please don't let a vet disbud your goats. They don't know how to do it....


Just because you had a bad experience does not mean that every vet out there is incompetent. Although there are vets out there who do not know about goats - disbudding included - there are also vets who do. It is up to the owner to do his/her homework, talk to other goat producers, and determine which vets know about goats and which ones don't.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

I had a vet do one of mine this year because I was out of town, he did an excellent job but has done goats before. If you have a vet do it, make sure they have done it before and that they use a goat sized disbudding iron and not the calf size (too big). Also take the goat in just when the buds are feelable, you will have a lot less chance of scurs if they are done at this time (except in bucks, they almost always get scurs).

I disbud all of my dairy goats, partially because they have to be disbudded in order to be shown and dairy goats are easier to sell in my area without horns and also because they are safer without horns to be around and their heads fit in the stand easier. With my Boer goats, only the wethers get disbudded. Around here they can have horns but they have to be tipped and some fairs require the horns to be less than 2 inches long so it is better on the goat that they don't have horns rather than having them cut shorter. They can also be easier for kids to handle in showing. 

If you have a bunch of horned goats I would be careful putting non horned goats in with them. Some horned goats can be pretty mean with those horns towards ones without horns. I keep all of mine separate, Boers are in one pasture and Saanens in another so I don't have to worry about them.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

I do not disbud. I can see the pros and cons as have been stated here...I currently have 5 horned goats, one polled and 1 that was disbudded when I bought her. So far, so good for us, but I do not have a lot of goats and they are within eyesight all the time, so it makes it easy to keep an eye out for problems.I would band if I had an aggressive one with horns that I wanted to keep.

Oh, and mine are dairy crosses that I sell/process so they are not show goats. Around here we have a lot of horned goats and I have not noticed an issue with selling a horned goat yet, but I am not super experienced either. I actually traded one doeling with horns to a woman who was specifically looking for a horned nubian/fainter cross....lol...what are the chances, right?


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

If you do have a vet so it.... I think anyone who has done it before should do it the first time but if you have someone do it watch how it is done and ask questions. Even ask if you can try and they over see it. Its not hard to do and no point in paying someone to do it for you. Well unless your like my husband and turns green when ever I bull the iron out lol.


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## KRuss (Apr 27, 2013)

For Nubians, what size do you use? What brand is good and where online can I find it?


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

KRuss said:


> For Nubians, what size do you use? What brand is good and where online can I find it?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


This thread is over a year old. You might want to start a new thread on questions that you might have.

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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

No, the thread is two months old


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

KRuss said:


> For Nubians, what size do you use? What brand is good and where online can I find it?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


Rinehart x30 with a half inch tip, or the x50 with the half inch tip. 
You can get them at any goat supply, jeffers, etc.


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## KRuss (Apr 27, 2013)

Awesome thanks!


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

Wild Hearts Ranch said:


> No, the thread is two months old


LOL!

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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

KRuss, Jeffers has a "Frugal Friday" sale and the X-30 is on sale today. I do not know if the sale price is 
less or more than elsewhere-


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## KRuss (Apr 27, 2013)

Awesome thanks!!


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