scabs coming off/disbudding

6e · #21 03/28/11, 04:11 PM

I have to agree. 2 is what ours look like, not 1 or 3. 1 would worry me just because it crosses the whole head, but I don't know. I never pick at the scabs. I just let them come off themselves in due time. Eventually they come off and they're all healed underneath. I would be afraid of picking at them as then the wound is open to the air and to infection. With the scab they're protected from bacteria.

LittleRedHen · #22 03/28/11, 04:24 PM

I just came in from checking on the girls (since dizzy is in labor) and the goat in #2 pic had her scab pop off one side while she ate her hay. I think she will have to be re-disbudded. She has a blood horn bud (much smaller than the one that came off on the scab) I will wait for the other one tos ee what it does but I think she will have to be redone. On this goat hubby didn't seer the spot directly as much (the bump) so it is possible he underdid her. I made sure he did the other two better. #1 goat in this pic has it nice and flat and i see no signs whatsoever of a bud. It just looks like scar tissue.

LittleRedHen · #23 03/28/11, 04:26 PM

btw i think the scab was across the whole head because of the nut we used to disbud. It was a thick nut which covered a larger surface than a regular disbudder. They were done at like 3 weeks old so their heads werent very large either which means the nut would have overlapped the middle section when he went from one bud to the other

coso · #24 03/28/11, 09:19 PM

Three weeks is way too long to disbud for me. Five to seven days is when I usually do mine.

LittleRedHen · #25 03/28/11, 09:31 PM

Its been a learning experience! I was under impression due to former friend that goats didn't get disbudded til their buds were about an inch long (around 6-8 week mark) I figured out less than 24 hours before we disbudded them that she was an idiot :P though it explains why most of her goats end up with scurs. Dizzys kids will be disbudded around a week old

coonripper · #26 03/29/11, 03:57 AM

I had mine done by the vet last year at 4 weeks old, He knocked them out and did his thing. Looked great with no issues and only cost me 21.00 for three goats

LoneStrChic23 · #27 03/29/11, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coonripper

I had mine done by the vet last year at 4 weeks old, He knocked them out and did his thing. Looked great with no issues and only cost me 21.00 for three goats

Wow... I want your vet. Mine charged $22.50 to redo Sam, and did nothing different other than use a custom tip he made that was 1" and better fit Sam's head. No meds, nothing other than quick burns and goodbye. Still don't know if Sam's head is done & scur free our if I have to take him back

CaliannG · #28 03/29/11, 01:55 PM

Let me get this straight, to see if I have things in order:

1. You made a home-made disbudder and used a flippin' torch to heat it to disbud your kids...
2. You waited WEEKS longer than you should have to disbud, as if it is going to be done, it should be done between 5-10 DAYS.... not 3-4 WEEKS.
3. In another thread, you mention that you are skimping on the milk you give your kids because you can't afford for them to drink more.
4. Your kids have OBVIOUS infections from your attempt to disbud them, far too late, with your homemade disbudder....
5. And now you are talking about attempting to disbud them AGAIN because the first attempt, that was done too late to take anyway, and then done with a bolt heated with a blow torch, didn't do the job?

Have I got this information right? Do you just love to hear the sound of goat kids screaming in pain? Because that is ALL you are going to achieve from attempting to disbud them AGAIN at this late date.

And to add to this, you plan on getting even MORE goats?

LittleRedHen · #29 03/29/11, 02:21 PM

1- yep
2.- not intentionally. They weren't all 3-4 weeks. the younger two were 2 1/2 weeks and the older one was in the 3 week range yes. But that was due to lack of information. Future kids that are going to be disbudded will be disbudded during their first week. This is a learning experience- I know no one who has it all right the first time.
3. Yes- during this time frame when the doelings were younger My husband lost his job two weeks after purchasing them. I fed them what I could in milk but at $3 a gallon I cannot afford 3-4 times a day feedings at 20-32 oz. Kudos to those who could I made my human children my priority. My husband is now back to working but i am not going to suddenly take them from low amounts to high amounts because I am not going to have them scouring. they are drinking more now but they are still not having 32 oz a feeding.
4- No, they are not having infections. I thought they were but I think it is more from my daughter trying to prematurely get the scabs off. I do believe we did not put enough heat to the direct bud on #2- the older goat. so yes she will have to have it done again. Pleasurable for me? no.. but I have read on here time and time again where people have disbudded a 2nd time just as soon as they have discovered they need it. The buds are small if they exist at all- its dried and scabbed again so i will not mess with it right now. the bump is less than 1/8th of an inch. If you want to judge me on that- i hope you judge anyone who does so. The oldest goat just barely turned 7 weeks old. This is the age my ex friend only disbuds hers the first time. She is a 4H leader and this is what she teaches all of the families under her. I had no reason to question her until I read on here where someone showed a video of disbudding a week old Buckling and therefore I asked more questions!
5. How is this any different than using a iron bought from Hoeggars? Would it be more sterile if I dipped the iron in a fire?

and in the end yes- i am getting more. All 3 of them are being purchased upon the date of being weaned. Both doelings are being disbudded by the current breeder and the buck is being left with horns.

Any more questions? your animosity doesn't bother me any. I know my situation and did the best I could with what i had. I have never had a single animal that I didn't have a learning curve on. I have never had anything in life where I was a "natural" at it. But the difference between me and others is I don't give up just because I messed it up. I learn from my mistakes, dust myself off and figure out to do it better next time.

Have a great day Caliann

i know I am

CaliannG · #30 03/29/11, 02:45 PM

~smiles~ I am having a wonderful day. Just making sure. Are you answering "Yes" to question #5, in that you are going to attempt this on them yet again, even though you now know that the first time you tried this, they were too old to disbud properly?

The difference between using a disbudding iron that was engineered and manufactured for the job that it is doing, and an iron bolt that is heated with a blow-torch, is that the disbudding iron holds the correct temperature for the job, neither too hot, nor too cold...and continues to re-heat DURING the job, rather than just cooling off and not GETTING the job done.

However, some people don't learn from their learning curves. The supposed definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result.

If there is pus, it is infected. High school biology.

It's really nice to rationalize that it is "just a learning curve" instead of investing the money (for the proper equipment....even when disbudding first came into fashion over a half a century ago, they didn't use the equivalent of a poorly made branding iron to get it done!) and time (get someone to teach you how to do it RIGHT, with the RIGHT equipment, before you go off to do it your own way) to learn about the procedure.

~smiles~ And really, you shouldn't flatter yourself too much by thinking that I am all angry and huffy, and this thread is going to ruin my day. ~chuckles~ I learned quite some time ago that I can't save the world from all the idiots in it, nor save the innocents from the stupid, so I just don't even try anymore. Just making sure YOU know the consequences of your actions.

Disbudding those kids again, even if you bought the most expensive disbudding iron in the world, is not going to get rid of the horns and scurs they are going to have. Therefore, if you attempt to repeat the procedure, the only thing you will accomplish is torturing your goats.

If you are into that sort of thing....

Nothing *I* can do about it.