Anyone Not Disbud?

I have 5 in my herd at the time. 4 doe have horns. My whether who is the largest and a big baby is a unicorn. He was disbuded, but they missed one almost completely. I haven't had a issue with any of them, but they are very small. I can imagine where a larger size goat could cause problems. My fence is chainlink so no one has gotten stuck.

If I had young children at home, I'd prefer disbudded goats. Horns do take more attention to detail. Gentle goats with horns can hurt someone by surprise. That's really the thing. With my boers it kept me focused when I was among them feeding or deworming or whatever. But horns don't give much protection. A persistent dog will kill a goat regardless of the horns. I've heard they help dissipate heat on very hot days and I know they make good handles for cantakerous kids but I don't consider disbudding anything like removing a limb. If there weren't the problem with hermies, I'd be among the first in in line breeding for polled.... which I have dabbled in at any rate. My cows on the other hand, too big to have horns. Cows can have bad hair days that could do some damage...

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

While you do need to keep an eye on the horned ones, my sweetest disbudded wether gave me a black eye two days ago. I leaned over just as he decided to throw his head up. Their heads are hard! I probably would have been paying more attention if he had horns.

Personally, if I had kids, I wouldn't let them that close to the goats whether they had horns or not. If the herd queen knocks a kid down with her head, horned or not, she's gonna do some damage. Goats are goats, and they can do lots of damage whether they have horns... or not.

Also, I was watching my horned doe, Alice, yesterday. She used her horns to swing her head back and scratch her back. If they are disbudded, they don't have advantages like that.

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French Lop rabbits, Nubian goats, Anatolian dogs
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Grace

I do have 2 polled does. Yesterday asked my human children to move one to the other pen & they both protested. Its too hard to catch the ones without horns, they are the worst, says DD14 & DD15

I admit that I selfishly like that the girls look to me to provide those scratches for them.

But, having kept all the ones going for food with horns, I will say those horns can really hurt a person. All the girls I kept were disbudded.

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For we used to ask when we were little, thinking that the old men knew all things which are on earth: yet forsooth they did not know; but we do not contradict them, for neither do we know.

I always ask potential buyers if their other goats are horned or not.. (most times I will turn down a sale to a horned herd) If I have a buyer who WANTS horns left on. I will do it on bucks (BUT they have to pay in full, up front by the time he's a week old) other wise if they change their mind and don't buy..I'm stuck with a horned buck.. NOT MANY people are going to want..pretty much means he'll end up meat for someone..

I've just over the years taken the stance of ALL my doelings WILL BE disbudded.. there are lots of other nubian breeders out here.. if a buyer just has to have horns left on.. I suggest someone else's herd for them. (people usually buy does with longterm, if something should happen and they have to sell that doe. no horns will give her MANY more options as far as who will or won't buy her)... I know I have a personal prejudice against horns on dairy goats..don't care how nice of a pedigree they have.. I just skip right over them when looking at ads.

susie, mo ozarks

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"My darling girl, when are you going to understand that "normal" is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."
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I disbud my Pygmys for the sake of my grand kids accidently getting hurt or getting their horns stuck in a fence. Otherwise I wouldnt bother to.

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They are so cute!!!!!

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

Thank you! They are all spoiled rotten!!!

I was at the vet's a bit ago while the receptionist tried to dissuade a woman making an appointment to have a goat dehorned. All the bad things about it were said but in the end it turned out that this woman was basically a goat rescuer who had gone through the procedure other times. As she said it the goat would end up as meat or tied in someone's yard as a brush goat otherwise. No one would take a horned goat as a pet.
That lead me to discuss disbudding under anesthesia as they do in the UK. One of the vets there would not do it otherwise, one would do it either way asthe client wanted to pay for and the third thought the risk of aanesthesia worse than the pain of disbudding.

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For we used to ask when we were little, thinking that the old men knew all things which are on earth: yet forsooth they did not know; but we do not contradict them, for neither do we know.

I would rather be put under the risk of anesthesia rather than have holes burnt in my skull with no pain killer, lol. With the risks of going too deep when disbudding, isn't the risk just as big?

I don't know much about disbudding so I can't say much. I'm just curious.

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French Lop rabbits, Nubian goats, Anatolian dogs
www.facebook.com/whistlingtreesrabbitry
www.whistlingtreesrabbitry.weebly.com
Grace

I disbud and would not purchase or own a horned goat. I just don't care for horns, and after being hit in the knee (inadvertently) by a horned sheep, I made the decision to never have any horned animals (except maybe if I ever decided to raise oxen).

And really, my kids start screaming when I restrain them, before even picking up the disbudding iron. I'm sure it's no picnic, but the screaming isn't *just* from the disbudding.

If done correctly... disbudding really isn't a big scary procedure.. My kids scream more from getting held still for their hair cuts then they do during the burning.. I have done hundreds of kids.. never went too deep, never had an infected bud. no swollen eyes, fired brains (or any of the other things you hear about from people who are to scared to actually do it).. I always burn to a 3rd degree burn on the first time.. the yelling stops. I think finish up with the bud. spray it to cool it.. and do the other one.. screaming resumes when I do the tattoos..

susie, mo ozarks

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"My darling girl, when are you going to understand that "normal" is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."
http://www.agesagoacresnubians.com/

I've only had 1 goat that had issues from disbudding. He was our first goat, came from a huge goat dairy where they gave away buck kids to 4-Hers. He had a seizure (from his head being overheated, perhaps?) when we brought him home, hit his head, and had arterial bleeding from the wound. Fun stuff! We managed to stop the bleeding and he was fine after that. I think it was a freak case though, because I've never heard of anyone else having any experience like that.

only bleeder we've ever had was one of the kids Otter brought here last month.. hit the burn on something that very night, ripping the new scab off.. bled like a stuck pig from the sounds of it.. BUT.. she got the bleeding stopped and all ended well...

susie

__________________
"My darling girl, when are you going to understand that "normal" is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."
http://www.agesagoacresnubians.com/