disbudding question

[lonelyfarmgirl]

I just got my first disbudder, and did eight of my babies. I followed the directions that came with disbudder, but I was still flyin by the seat of my pants.

so, for those of you who do your own dissbudding, how long do you hold the iron on there?

how long till the horn nubs fall off?

how do I know I burned long enough?

[mygoat]

There is no set time.

I let the iron heat up for 15 minutes before doing my first kid. I sit on them to restrain them, then apply the iron. It's easier if you shave the head first.

I don't press down on the iron any more than it's own weight, but I do rotate or rock the iron to make sure of good coverage. Burn until you get a nice thick coper ring all around the bud. Then, take the tip of the iron at the base of the scorched bud and 'pop' it off. With small horn buds (usually on the doelings or on miniatures) it won't pop off but it usually does with my bucks. If they don't pop off I take the tip and burn the center bud all around as well.

Between horn buds I let the iron reheat about a minute. Between kids, I let it set for about 5 minutes to regain lost heat as well.

Make sure to wear gloves and hold the kids' ears out of the way of the iron!

[lonelyfarmgirl]

what do you mean burn the center bud all around as well? excuse my ignorance of the terminology.

if the horn tip didn't pop off when you did it, does that necessarily mean it was unsuccessful?

[mygoat]

No, if the horn bud doesn't pop off it doesn't mean it wasn't successful, just that the horn bud wasn't as developed. I was only able to pop the bud off of one kid this year. Usually it's the buck kids that you are able to do it with because their buds are fairly well developed at birth. I haven't ever popped the bud off a doeling, though I do mine at 1-3 days old so they're usually still fairly undeveloped.

When I can't pop the bud off, I burn the center, using the tip to scrape off the bud.