# How do you band horns? PLEASE HELP ME.



## Paige

I have a yearling wether and a two year old oberhasli buck. The wether grows these really long scurs that keep breaking off and I am wondering if this will keep them down or will they keep coming back? Then the buck does not have scurs that bad but he get little ones. Will banding work? And if so how do I do it? How long will it take for them to fall off?
Thanks! :wave:


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## liz

Banding will thwart the regrowth of the scurs, you'll need to be sure to place the band as close to the head as possible and if they aren't thick scurs, they should drop off in a matter of 3-4 weeks.


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## KW Farms

I have banded goats with scurs before. It usually works, but you have to put the band at the base of the horn/scur. I usually take two or even three green castrator bands and put them as close to the skull as you can. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to 5+ weeks. But I generally see horns or scurs fall off at about 5 weeks. You do want to make sure the bands stay tightly on there or don't fall off or anything. Oh, and when putting the bands on, you can just take your castrating tool with the band like if you were to band a buckling and slide the bands off at the base of the scur. You might need a small notch on the horn so the bands stay at the base. 

Here's a great website that kind of shows you how with photos...
http://vaughnshire.com/agrarian-life/th ... oat-horns/


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## Hush Hills Fainters

Colorful Duct-tape works wonders for helping to hold it in place


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## GoatJoy

oh cool! I didnt know about that! Can you band fully grown horns too?


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## KW Farms

Horns larger than 3 or 4 inches, I really wouldn't do banding with. Banding works best for young goats, under 2 years is generally a good age. 

Banding goats with big/fully grown horns is possible, but dangerous and should really be done surgically by a vet.


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## peggy

I have never banded horns myself but my friend has banded young goats horns and has even done adults horns by banding. She has never had a problem. I will post some before and after pics later after I load them.


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## tracyqh

I didn't do a good job of disbudding my doeling this year and have decided that it is not a job I can do and will be farming it out to someone better/braver than I. She's 2 months old and her horns are about 3/4 inch long. Could I band them?


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## KW Farms

I would wait a little longer tracyqh, her scurs will grow out and should get larger making it easier for the band to work effectively. Being really small, it might be kind of hard for the band restrict blood flow completely...I would wait until the horns/scurs are around an inch and a half to 2 inches usually works fine.


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## Coyote Night Acres

so as long as they are around 3 inches you can band? I ask because I have a buckling that didn't get disbudded that has good horns growing already. I would like to band them before they are really really thick, but was told to wait till they were 5-6 months old. If I wait that long they will probably be pretty large at that point, so wouldn't it make more sense to band them now at 2 months old? Of course I will watch out for fly issues and keep stuff on them to prevent flys. 

Peggy would love to see pics.


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## tracyqh

Thanks! I will wait a little longer.


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## KW Farms

No problem tracyqh! 

Amy, if the horns are already 3 inches, I wouldn't worry about how old the kid is. I go by horn growth, not age of goat/kid. It will be easier on the buckling to get them done sooner rather than waiting.


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## Coyote Night Acres

Thanks, I'll be getting that done today or tomorrow then.


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## peggy

Here are the pics of the adults goats that were dehorned by banding. Not sure of their age but they are both several years old. Nice clean job with no problems.

Angel with horns.










Poppy with horns.










Angel and Poppy after banding the horns.


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## Coyote Night Acres

Do they ever grow scurs? They look really nice without those horns.


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## peggy

They were done early last spring and they so far.......have never grown scurs or anything.


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## Coyote Night Acres

That's awesome then. Now I've seen this one site that has you cut into the skin for band placement. Did you do that or just put them down as low as you could? How long did it take for them to fall off?


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## KW Farms

No, you don't need to cut into the skin, that seems kind of cruel to me. I just take 2 or 3 bands usually and put them as close to the skull as you can. You MAY need to notch into the horn a little bit if they won't stay down, but usually I don't have any problems. 

The horns fall off anywhere from 3 weeks to 5+ weeks. As long as the bands are still restricting blood flow, they will eventually fall off...you'll just have to be patient. I haven't seen a goat take longer than 3 months to fall off.


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## liz

I banded the horns on a hermaphrodite"doe" who had horns like a buck would...wide at the base, and she was 6 years old. All I did was shave the hair from the base, placed the band as best I could on the fleshy area at the base and used electrical tape to hold it, they were off in 4 weeks though prematurely because she knocked them off. And, she has grown very slight scurs in the 2 years since, I attribute that to her knocking the horns off.


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## GoatJoy

Oh wow they look so good! I'm getting a pb nubian from a lady with horns and I suspect that may be why she is selling her...though I could be wrong. Anyway I was concerned about bringing her into the herd being the only one with horns. We definately may try the bands. I was just concerned about something going wrong because she is a really nice doe. I really didnt want to take her to the vet to have them removed because they actually remove part of their scull and have a difficult time with recovery. Has anyone had a vet remove them?


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## peggy

My friend who did Polly and Angel but a couple bands on the horns as far down as she could get them. First, though she filed a couple notches around the horn base so the bands wouldn't slide up and put duct tape on them to hold them. It took several weeks for them to fall off. I think that using the bands would be safer than having a vet cut them off because with the bands the horn heals as it goes so there is no huge gapping hole in the skull after the horns die and fall off.


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## GoatJoy

Right thats what I was thinking. Ok cool! Thanks for posting the before and after pics! :thumb:


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## Paige

Thanks guys!!! All opinions are much appreciated. I will see what I can do with these guys!


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## Goat Lover 98

I'm SO glad you don't have to cut into the skin. This is my 1 year old Nigerian buck. His horns have been banded half way down, and I'd like to do it the rest of the way this fall/winter. Do they look okay size-wise? I know this is a bad picture to calculate by, but I'm pretty sure they're about the length of my index finger, maybe a little longer. They're kind of flat at the base, if you know what I mean. About an inch thick.

http://postimage.org/image/c5d5zrhj3/


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## KW Farms

Yes, you could probably band those just fine Emily. Probably, because of the width at the base...you'll need to notch it so it stays in place. :thumb:


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## tina29

I'm trying to wrap my brain around how banding works with scurs that are flat?


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## happybleats

you should use two bands...one in the notch you make with a file...the second one right under it....the top one in the notch keeps the bottom on in place. You do need to watch as they begin to become loose...if they knock them off early they can bleed quite a bit..def. a better choice then the vet cutting them. A friends Doe still had flat one inch nubs after all said and done..she may not have gone low enough...it should be done at the hair line..just below the horn...Also if you use tape to secure the band..check it often to be sure its not getting infected under it..always do a tetanus antitoxin prior to doing it and always do this kind of stuff out side of fly season to save additional problems : )


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## anawhitfield

I am thinking to band a few of my (adult) females who are all up to date on their vaccines and de-worming but I can only imagine banding the horns can have complications so i was wondering when you banded the horns on your (adult) doe, did you give her any meds? (CD/T or antibiotic or anti-inflamatory, etc)


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## ksalvagno

When I did it, I made sure CDT was up to date. I also gave her a shot of Banamine prior to putting new bands on.


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