BlessedWithGoats Journal: Happy Birthday Gia!

[BlessedWithGoats]

Started putting the band on. I wouldn't leave the band in the spot it is in the first pic below; you'll see in the next pics how the band was moved lower. If it is left in the spot it's in in the pic below, you may end up having a stub of horn left. (I can't say yet whether Latte has any stubs of horn yet, since it's so recent. I don't think she will, but cannot say for sure yet.) You put the band on, using the bander, as far down as you can. Then you have to try to slide the band down further, until it is at the base of the horn. Try to make sure as little hair as possible gets caught under the band, it can cause them pain. This is why we shave it as close as possible.

Both bands on.

Close up of where the band pretty much needed to be. Ignoring the horn way on the left of the picture, the left-front portion of the band in this picture could move down a tad more.

Another pic of both bands on.

I originally was putting gray tape to help keep the bands on, but I found I didn't really need it. With the other three I did after her and Ashton, I don't think I put any gray tape at all. And if their hair gets caught under the tape, it can cause them pain.
My goats seemed to be kind of dopey/in pain the first day I put the bands on. But after that, they seemed to do pretty well!

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

This was a little over a month after I had put the bands on. After a while, you will likely start to see where the band has cut through the horn.

Here she lost her first horn... This was on Feb 14th; so about 6 weeks since the bands were put on for her! I applied blood stop powder to her horn-area, put a cloth on top of it, and then used vet wrap around her head. I checked a few times to make sure the vet wrap wasn't choking her/wasn't too tight. You'll see black-colored stuff down her face... she had some blood that had run down her face, and I guess the blood stop powder made it look black. The bump on the far right-top of her head is the green cloth that I put on before the vet wrap.

I believe it was the next morning I cut the vet wrap... I was advised to cut it so that it wasn't too long, but don't take it all the way off, otherwise it could start bleeding again. In the pic below, the vet wrap had come off, but the cloth was still stuck to her head. It finally came off, but for Basil's horn and Latte's second horn, I used the vet wrap only.

A pic after the cloth had fallen off. It looks a little pussy or something to me. I think I gave her some garlic, in sweet feed, sometime after it fell off.

I'll try to get another picture after the area has cleaned up a bit, and looks better.

Final pic of the update... both horns are off! She still has the vet wrap on after this evening, I'll try to get a pic of her without it, after it comes off!

 

[Latestarter]

Wow, thanks for documenting and sharing all that Blessed! That looks GREAT! I'm really interested in finding out if she or any of the others start growing scurs after a while from doing it this way.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

You're welcome @Latestarter! Thank you for your compliment!
@Southern by choice had initially requested that I take pictures of the process, so I want to say thanks Southern as well!
I'm interested to see if any of them grow scurs too! I think they likely won't have scurs if you get the band far enough down... I think we got them far enough down, hoping they'll be scur-free!

I think I felt Latte's baby(ies) move today! I felt a little "bump" a couple of times! And I think I felt Cookie's the other day too!! I LOVE kidding season! I'm thinking of going with a naming convention this year... not 100% sure yet though! Only a few days over a month before my first doe, Cookie, is due! Woohoo!

 

[Mini Horses]

WOW, I so appreciate your documentation AND pics! How old was Latte when you banded her? horns look pretty "matured" as they don't have the pink look that those young ones horns have. It seems that other than first day or two, there was not much noticeable discomfort, annoyance, etc. during the process.

I have not ever tried this but sure would. Has your "mentor/advisor" made any comments about best age? I'm wondering if they need to be matured before this process. It would "seem" that would give better results with less bleeding but, who knows unless they've done it. Also, with the active growth of young horns, it would grow longer much faster than the band worked through.

I'll be watching for updates on Latte and her eventual outcome, i.e regrowth, hair, etc.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

WOW, I so appreciate your documentation AND pics! How old was Latte when you banded her? horns look pretty "matured" as they don't have the pink look that those young ones horns have. It seems that other than first day or two, there was not much noticeable discomfort, annoyance, etc. during the process.

I have not ever tried this but sure would. Has your "mentor/advisor" made any comments about best age? I'm wondering if they need to be matured before this process. It would "seem" that would give better results with less bleeding but, who knows unless they've done it. Also, with the active growth of young horns, it would grow longer much faster than the band worked through.

I'll be watching for updates on Latte and her eventual outcome, i.e regrowth, hair, etc.

Hi Mini Horses!

Latte is almost 3 years old now! Agreed, for the most part, I didn't really see much discomfort, etc., just that first day pretty much, and after the horns fell off. She seems to be doing well, so I'm thankful for that!

No, I don't recall my goat mentor mentioning a best age to dehorn in this manner, and I don't recall reading about it anywhere... I actually banded Buttercup's horns as well, and she will be one in June. So far her bands look to be partway through. I don't think I ever thought of that point about how it would work on a younger goat, so thank you for bringing that up! It will be interesting to see how it works on a younger goat like Buttercup, vs. an older goat like Latte!

 

[sadieml]

@BlessedWithGoats - Thank so much for this banding info and pics. I am still dragging my feet on the whole issue. I am strongly considering clove oil for my boys' scurs, but I am hoping that this banding thing will work our well since I would rather not inject or burn if possible. Can't wait to see close-ups of the horn-free heads, and hoping there will be no scurs. Thanks, again.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

Cookie died on Monday. I'm not sure at this point what caused it, but have a couple ideas, thanks to some friends/goaties. I will miss Cookie dearly. She was my favorite doe, so sweet. I now know the pain some of you have felt when you've lost a doe.
I am bottle feeding her two girls now, and they are doing well on the bottle. They are gifts from God, little rays of sunshine.

 

[Ferguson K]

 

[Poka_Doodle]

So sorry again