[Ike_JBRanch]

Hey! I need some help here. I am a new rancher, started my goat ranch nearly a year ago and now have 19 in my herd. Anyway, I raised a buckling from birth and I had him disbudded when he was young by a lady who said she knew what she was doing. After a couple months I started to notice horns growing, after reading about it I learned they were scurs and that they will fall off, but his haven’t. He rams everything, torn wood off of pallets and has harassed the other goats with his scurs. Even just this morning I put on gloves and grabbed his scurs and shook and pulled, and they didn’t budge at all.

Are they really scurs? And how do I deal with them? I want a hornless herd so what are my options?

 

[Alice In TX/MO]

Scurs don’t fall off.

 

[Ike_JBRanch]

Really? What do you think I should do? I have tried using castration bands and even just using pool noodles to make them softer but nothing works. The bands won’t stay, even after making small knotches, and the pool noodles just rip apart.
Any suggestions help!

 

[altair]

A vet could cut them but they will bleed heavily. Granted, they sometimes fall off if weakly attached enough and they use force. That used to happen to my aunt and uncle's Toggenburg on occasion.

 

[Alice In TX/MO]

Sell him.

 

[mzgarden]

I'm going to agree with Alice - this does not sound like a goat that fits your herd plans. Sometimes it works out like that - a goat just doesn't end up fitting the needed profile or develops behavioral issues that can be ok in one place, but not yours. This boy needs to be rehomed. IMO, horn removal is a risky (to his health) and expensive business. Find a new home for him so you don't have to be focused on this one, when you have 18 others to take care of.

 

[motdaugrnds]

If they are still fairly small I've used a de-horner that actually cuts them off down a bit; then seared the bleeding with a hot iron. However, this is always "iffy" as to whether or not the scurs/horns will remain gone! If they do not that goat will wind up in our freezer as soon as he is large enough.