My 3 wethers were disbudded when they were very young. One has slight scurs, and they are not very big. Yesterday I noticed one looked red, a tiny bit bloody (?). I see that Hoeggers sells "Scur nippers". Am I suposed to be nipping them?
How long are the scurs and breed? You can try nipping them and then using a disbidding iron if needed. Bernice
He is Nigerian Dwarf, 6 months old, and the scurs are very small. You can just see the one poking through the hair, and the other is even smaller. Dime-sized and raised maybe 1/2".
I wouldn't mess with them. Sometimes, butting heads, they'll knock a scur off, and it will bleed a little, but they don't seem to care. You can nip them for cosmetic reasons if you're showing and they're not too big, but if you get too close, they'll bleed just like a dog's toenail. And if you cut them all the way off, it will hurt like fire, and there's a good chance your goat will have a hole in his head where the skull covering his sinus would be if he'd been more thoroughly disbudded. The hole will heal, but it takes a long time and is easily infected.
I agree with Laura. With scurs this small I wouldn't worry about it. Bucklings are very hard to disbud anyway but some breeds are worse than others.
