Help with removing scurs

mysticklobo · #1 01/18/12, 08:36 AM

I have two Nigerian goats with scurs. One is a 2 year old buck, one of his got broken off last fall, the other is curved over and almost to his head. The other is a 8 month old doeling and hers are laying almost flat along her head.

I NEED to get the scur on the buck taken care of before it grows into his head. I've heard of using a hacksaw (which I've tried, but it doesn't cut very well), bone/wire saws (can't find here) and also someone mentioned using a saws-all on a horn. I do have a saw-all, but what size blade and tooth count would I need?

Alice In TX/MO · #2 01/18/12, 08:50 AM

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CGIQ8wIwBA

Backfourty,MI. · #3 01/18/12, 09:09 AM

I have a similar Horn wire saw like Alice posted about onlymine has different handles. I ordered it from Hoeggers Goat suppy.

When we used it on 1 of our does' I was holding her & Dh was using the saw, she jerked her head & the whole scur popped off.
Will probly try the saw again the next time on her if it grows the same way but really she never hardly bled & it didn't seem to bother her. I di use the blood stop powder but don't think I needed it. After that I kept Blue Kote on it for a few days & she was fine.

bee · #4 01/18/12, 09:17 AM

I am interested in how you restrain the victim..er individual needing the surgery?? My nearing one year Nigerian buckling just broke off his smaller scur in my attempts to remove it(because it was growing into the top of his eye!). He has a much tougher one left that I need to remove and this type of saw looks to be the way to go..it makes no noise and little vibration. Anybody know if they make similar that has a shorter working area...24 inches is going to be unhandy.. visegrips maybe if they don't come smaller???

Natural Beauty Farm · #5 01/18/12, 10:33 AM

Our co-op carries OB wire and a set of handles, so you can make the saw what-ever size you need. If you can find a camping section that carries coleman type supplies, they sell a wire saw for cutting wood, cheap thing ($5), but it works. Wire is round and has ridges w 2 keyring type handles.

mysticklobo · #6 01/18/12, 05:57 PM

We don't have much in this town and I checked every place we do have for them. The people at the hardware store didn't even know what I was talking about, even after describing them. So, the only way to get one of those saws is by ordering online and the shipping is more than the saw.

Backfourty,MI. · #7 01/18/12, 07:18 PM

The one I ordered from Hoeggers has different handles & you can thread the wire through the handle until you get the desired length you want or need.

Backfourty,MI. · #8 01/18/12, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bee

I am interested in how you restrain the victim..er individual needing the surgery?? My nearing one year Nigerian buckling just broke off his smaller scur in my attempts to remove it(because it was growing into the top of his eye!). He has a much tougher one left that I need to remove and this type of saw looks to be the way to go..it makes no noise and little vibration. Anybody know if they make similar that has a shorter working area...24 inches is going to be unhandy.. visegrips maybe if they don't come smaller???

Someone stron has to hold the goat, snuggly & tightly. Of course I thought I was strong enough but as you can see from my post above the doe jerked her head out of my hold & the scur ripped right off.

Next time we'll have to try me with the saw & dh holding her.

Ranger · #9 01/18/12, 09:34 PM

The scurs on my girls are soft enough that I can just use a sharp pair of pruning shears on them. Some people just twist them off, but I can never hold the goat and twist the scur at the same time. lol They often just knock them off themselves.

DaniR1968 · #10 01/18/12, 09:37 PM

What you need is a Casper to pull them off for you.

Help with removing scurs - Goats

Or you can be boring and go with the wire thingie.

mysticklobo · #11 01/19/12, 07:59 AM

He got one broken off, so it is about 2" long last fall when my angora buck got into the pen with him and my Nigora bucks. The angora buck is a bit aggressive towards other bucks when he is in rut, so keep him separate from the smaller ones. Now just have to deal with the one on the Nigerian buck and will have to deal with the ones on the young doe. I love the bloodlines these two are out of, but not to sure if I want to buy from this breeder again, because she seems to have problems getting a good clean burn, so scurs don't grow.

Alice In TX/MO · #12 01/19/12, 09:02 AM

Put goat on milk stand. Have two strong people restrain nose and body. Struggle to get wire in place and work like the blazes to get it done in the 1/4 second the goat is still.

gila_dog · #13 01/20/12, 10:34 AM

I'm certainly no expert, but I have learned some hard lessons about scurs. My 3 packgoat wethers all have scurs. The dehorning job that was done on them when they were babies was careless or incompetent, and it's been a big mess ever since. What I've learned is that there are two kinds of scurs: loose ones, and those that are attached firmly to the skull. The loose ones can be removed surgically by a vet without too much trouble. If you can get ahold of the scur and wiggle it around then it's not attached to the skull and I would recommend having a vet anethsetize the goat and remove it. I they can't be wiggled then they are attached the skull and removal is much more difficult and dangerous. In that case you will have to just saw them off occasionally. If you cut too close to the head, tho, you will get a lot of bleeding and extreme pain. I think you can cut about 1 1/2 inch from the tip and avoid this. Closer to the head and you get into living tissue inside the scur.

I have sawed them off. The goats have knocked them off. I also tried removing the scurs using a castrator band. This was supposed to be a less painful way of doing it. I was unable to get it to work. You have to get the band below the hairline. This was extremely painful for the goats and didn't work. It just made the scurs look different, but they were still there. I guess I didn't get the bands on right.

The vet was able to remove the scurs of 2 goats pretty effectively. The 3rd goat's scurs are just short ugly mangled horns, firmly attached to the skull. Those would be much more difficult and dangerous to remove. Fortunately, at 6 years old, they have mostly stopped growing.

I used a hacksaw, but I think the flexible wire saw might be better.

Scurs are a miserable mess, and had I known then what I know now I would not have taken the kids that I did. I got my goats when they were 3 months old, and the beginnings of the scurs were visible then. I would have picked goats with no scurs, or gone to a different breeder.