Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics)

CraterCove · #1 06/07/12, 10:46 AM

So, I promised that when I finally got around to using my brand new wiresaw on my Buck's mega scur I would post pics. Well I procrastinated and didn't actually do it until a couple of weeks ago then I procrastinated and only now got the pics onto the computer.

Here are the pics... though things did not turn out exactly as I had planned.

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

Here are a few before pictures. Unfortunately, over winter he managed to catch his beautiful forelock in the fence and progressively pull it out. It was long enough that it came down over the end of his nose. Ah well, maybe he'll regrow it this summer!

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

You can see here that the scur is threatening to dig into poor Mr. Kidd's skull.

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

So... we wrapped the wire saw around the scur, I could feel where the end of the living part was because not only was the spot warm but with those lovely white horns it was pretty easy to see. But I just wanted to take off about half an inch right now and then do it again in another month to slowly decrease the length and never again get to the point where it was actually touching his head/neck.

However, as we were about to take a pic of the wiresaw in the horn Mr. Kidd gave a great yank and:

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

~sigh~ This happened.

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

Here he is enjoying his treat. I kept the area blue koted to help it dry off and made sure he was fly sprayed every day until the area looked sealed up again.

Here are some pics of what came off his head. For some reason the camera focused on the ground behind instead of the horn piece.

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

You can see the hollow where the horn stem was seated.

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

And here you can see just how far we got with the wire saw before Mr. Kidd decided to take things into his own hooves.

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

He took the whole incident in stride and went right back to eating outside the fence... instead of cleaning up my weeds actually _in_ the yard.

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

And a bonus picture of my middle son mimicking my husband at work. :P

Using a wire saw to remove a Scur (pics) - Goats

Hopefully this is helpful to someone. If nothing else it taught me not to worry. He hardly seemed to care when the whole thing popped off and didn't hold it against me whatsoever after the fact.

farmmom · #2 06/07/12, 11:01 AM

The good news is that it will be a while before you'll need to do that again! I haven't figured out yet why they eat outside the fence when the fenced in area has plenty to browse on. Goats!! Who really understands what goes through their heads?

What a cute little man at the end!

suzyhomemaker09 · #3 06/07/12, 11:26 AM

Grass is always greener on the other side....

this saying was absolutely made by a goat owner !!

andabigmac · #4 06/07/12, 03:07 PM

I need to do my buck. I'm kind of hoping the same thing happens to us and his scur will just pop off. Dh is freaking out about having to do this. I showed him these pics with the saw cutting through and he said, "That's all you have to do? We'll do it Saturday." He's confident now. Thanks so much.

Alice In TX/MO · #5 06/07/12, 04:20 PM

Sometimes grabbing the scur with a pair of hedge loppers works, too.

**mygoat** · #6 06/07/12, 05:40 PM

My wether's scur is smaller than that, and sometimes when his pops off it bleeds like crazy. MUCH worse than what your buck's bled. He'll have it streaming down his face and dripping for an hour or more. He can act very pained when his knocks off. Then again, sometimes when it pops off it barely bleeds and doesn't bother him...

Glad it all went well, though. We don't bother my wether's scur too much because it's a loose scur and isn't going to grow into his head or anything.

freedomfrom4 · #7 06/07/12, 06:43 PM

can you burn it after it comes off and keep it from growing again on little scurs? My buckling have scurs they are constantly knocking off and they bleed all over, but don't have a big thing left like the posters did. It also seems to hurt them.

CraterCove · #8 06/07/12, 07:52 PM

This scur was very thick and unwiggle-able (word?) so I thought the saw was my only feasible option. I just waited too long, I kept hoping he'd knock it off like he has before.

My disbudding iron doesn't have a tip large enough to fit over the scur bud and I would hesitate to burn him. Has anyone else burned an adult scur bud?

**mygoat** · #9 06/07/12, 08:24 PM

I've HEARD of people burning the area using the x50. Kinda like disbudding but you want to get all the exposed blood vessels. Yes there are nerves in there so it's pretty darn painful.

You'd have to have a strong stomach and have a great way to restrain them if they were awake. I'd only do it either with sedatives, or if it had to be done without sedatives I'd probably get one of those headpieces that restrains the heads of sheep/meat goats - I think they're called fitting headpieces. I want one anyways as it would be nice to fully restrain the heads of goats on occassion, lol. Like while shaving my alpine doe who HATES the clipper and does all she can to bite at me and the clipper...

Pony · #10 06/07/12, 09:07 PM

A couple of our goats have scurs that we just knock off or pull with a channel locks when we do hooves.

It bleeds a bit, but they don't seem to be in pain. Of course, they are easily bought off with treats....

Pony · #11 06/07/12, 09:08 PM

BTW - adorable little 'puter geek there. Has he learned to order in pizza and pop yet?

bee · #12 06/07/12, 10:07 PM

My buck has two scurs growing in curls, one has gone full circle and is pressing on it's base. I have an appointment with a vet to come on monday and TB test my 2 does..he is going to sedate the buck and remove the scurs..maybe permanantly if possible. Best 35 dollars I'll ever spend(scur removal only)...

Ranger · #13 06/07/12, 10:49 PM

Just be careful, bee. My friend just had that done by the vet, and it looks like half of his head is missing. He's in a lot of pain, and won't let her near him now.

BethW · #14 06/08/12, 10:44 PM

The times my boys have knocked their big scurs off they've clearly been in pain.

The saw and the nippers/loppers are so likely to snap the scur off rather than cut it off that I've given up and just use my Dremel tool.

The Dremel works great with a cutting wheel on it. It gives a nice clean cut and while the goats don't like the noise, it's completely painless.

CraterCove · #15 06/09/12, 10:18 AM

Pony, he hasn't ordered the pizza himself yet but he sure know that the only person that comes to the office front door is the pizza guy! He comes barreling to the front door yelling, "The pizza is here!"

A dremel tool sound like a good idea. I might look to doing that next time. If its just to give a bit of a trim that should be especially useful.

poppypatchFarm · #16 06/09/12, 12:58 PM

If they move their head around while you are sawing and the scur is semi loose it will pull off like his did. I put a halter on them and tie their head down to restrain them.

If you are having a full horn/scur removal done by the vet be careful it is not being done during fly season. That procedure is usually quite invasive leaving a big hole in the goat's head until healed. No kidding a friend of ours had her buck's scurs removed and he got maggots in his head which she had to clean out.