Dehorning

[crazy4equines]

Had anyone ever used the paste de horning cream? Did it work? I am just curious.

[Cannon_Farms]

I think its the worst of the other two options, goats rub their heads on everything meaning they will rub that acid off onto other goats and body parts. Banding or dibudding is a better option.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Plus, it just doesn't work well.

[Frosted Mini's]

Get hot iron. Burn head, both sides. Kid is angry for like 1 minute. Done.

[mygoat]

Paste seems like an easier option for those a little squeemish about burning... Until a goat kid gets it in another kids' eyes and the eye get super damaged. Goats are also mouthy and will likely lick each others' heads. They are also likely to itch their heads on surfaces or with a back hoof, possibly causing more damage. I suppose calves could do the same thing even living alone, which is why I wouldn't use it on calves, either.

Disbudding is not hard or scary except at first. Practice on your butcher kids first to get a feel for the iron.

I disbud all kids at less than a week old. Usually 5 ish days old, but it varies. Let the iron get RED HOT. If you are using an x50 make *SURE* you get the smaller 'goat tip'. This should fit SNUGLY in the openingof the x50. If it's not snug, it won't get hot and stay hot. (ask me how I know... LOL).

I always shave their heads a bit, not really because I couldn't do it with hair, but because that means less smoke which always goes directly into my eyes... It does help with seeing the nubs. Since I also tattoo at the same time, I usually have tattoo ink all over everything and just dab a fingerprint onto the horn bud if needed - say, on a doeling with no visible horn bud.

Doelings are easy - center the iron over the bud, and set the iron down. The weight of the iron is sufficient pressure. I then rock the iron around the bud for one full rotation. Set the iron down and blow on the spot, ice it if you'd like. I wait a half a minute for the iron to heat back up, then do the other side.

With bucklings, I've had good sucess with doing a figure 8 burn. Essentially, their base is more of a teardrop shape. If you do the main bud under the iron, sometimes you'll miss the pointy end of the 'teardrop' and you'll get an ugly scur. Which doesn't hurt them or you, but isn't pretty. I then overlap a 2nd ring over the first a bit, and this makes a figure 8. I think someone has a picture somewhere...

Heres a pic showing the bud and the ridges that you need to also get:


From: http://www.dairygoatinfo.com/f19/dis...ks-pics-20925/

Here's a pic of a figure 8 burn that I like - notice it overlaps. You don't need to have a true figure 8 with two whole O's... the overlap will get the entire area. I usually try to get my 2nd burn to go right through the center of the first burn.



From: http://promessadairygoats.webs.com/d...oftrimming.htm

[Alice In TX/MO]

Excellent post

[Goatsandsheep]

Thank you. Great pictures and the figure 8 makes perfect sense. Especially for bucks.

[Cyngbaeld]

Since I have to do them by myself, I take a small pair of sweat pants and pull it over the kid with its head sticking out the foot opening. Then I wrap the rest of the pant around the body so it is snugly bundled like a kid burrito. You don't want any of the legs loose or the kid will be able to squirm away. Then I hold the kid on my lap with my left arm pulling it snug against my body and my left hand holding the head firmly against my right leg and use my right hand to handle the instrument.

[crazy4equines]

Thanks for your opinions. I just always wondered about the paste and how it worked, i personally always dehorned with a hot iron too, well i pay for a 4h'r to do mine and he does an excellent job.

[Frosted Mini's]

Disbudding/kid holding boxes are super helpful. My husband and I do them together. He shaves the head, while I get the tattoo pliers ready. We do one side (and do the ridge as shown, with the side of the iron), then I tattoo the kid while the iron heats back up, and we do the other side. The iron heats up between kids while we are shaving the next one's head and getting the pliers ready again.

[mygoat]

Originally Posted by Frosted Mini's

Disbudding/kid holding boxes are super helpful. My husband and I do them together. He shaves the head, while I get the tattoo pliers ready. We do one side (and do the ridge as shown, with the side of the iron), then I tattoo the kid while the iron heats back up, and we do the other side. The iron heats up between kids while we are shaving the next one's head and getting the pliers ready again.

Did you make your box? I have one someone made me and it didn't work well.

I just sit leaning with my back against a wall, all my implements of doom around me (tattoo pliers and disbudding iron).

I clamp the kids head between my thighs like a stanchion and secure it's head with my left hand (in a glove). I hold ears out of the way and burn, holding the head against my thigh. Works well, since I've never had anybody help me with things like this on the farm. Bigger kids that I've done in the past, I've knelt over them and used my left hand to hold their heads against my knee/thigh.

[Frosted Mini's]

We made our box reusing some wood from other projects, and it works for all sizes of kids I have Nigerian to alpine. There is a bar that goes under their chest, and on the Nigerians they can't reach the ground with their short little legs. LOL. But it still works. The only part we bought was the headpiece from Hoegger. I push the kid's head into the box and hold back its ears. Husband sits on the box and does the burning. Actually, I burn the ridge, he does the main part of the horn. If you got a latch for the lid (my friend has one), you could use the box with just one person. The slot for the neck is too small for the head to go through, you just slide them down through it.

[hiddensprings]

I disbudded 5 kids this morning with the hot iron. I have a box, trim the hair, a few seconds, and they are done. Honestly, that dehorning paste scares me more then the hot iron.