# Band Dehorning



## Valley Ranch (May 16, 2010)

We are preparing to band dehorn a buck we got a month back. I read Kate's step by step on another forum, it is the best I have found.
We built a squeeze chute that I will move into the corral shortly. We plan to apply the bands today or tomorrow. We, wife and I, have the bands and expanding pliers, betadine, and screw worm spray ready. The buck has a good size set of horns. Our girls will take pictures during the process. 
I'm not sure how to post pictures here yet. Richard


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## Lil-patch-of-heaven (May 16, 2010)

I'm interested to hear more comments and info. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that ALL of my goats have horns, except one doeling that was disbudded and she has a scur, and the other doeling who has tiny nubs I have some hope of dealing with. 

Mine all have fairly narrow (does') horns or still very short (bucklings') but so far everything I've heard about dehorning scares me for the goats' sake. I've had a few near-misses and scrapes in getting used to them and keeping my face away from the area they can potentially jerk their heads around in. Not to mention I worry about them hurting each other or getting stuck in the fence. My for with longer horns has a stick attached across the tips for those reasons and I'm considering epoxying on some tennis balls (saw the tennis balls mentioned here somewhere I think).


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## Valley Ranch (May 16, 2010)

Greetings, We always use an iron to dehorn or debud. This buck was wild when we got him, no way the barn would hold up to his thumping. 

So! We did it! We got the band on. Tried to do it as Kate discribed. Now we see. Time for the HOT TUB.

We have pictures if someone will tell how to post pictures! Hope I don't have to use photo bucket.


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## ThreeBoysChicks (May 16, 2010)

Check out this link to learn how to post pics and no you don't have to use photobucket.  BYH allows you to uploads images.  


http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=97


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## Valley Ranch (May 17, 2010)

Thankyou for the info on posting instructions on displaying pictures. I'll have wifey read the instructions.

Our girls got many photos of the banding. Bahag, the buck, was not much stressed by the procedure and hasn't held it against us.


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## helmstead (May 17, 2010)

Richard...remembering the photos of your buck, be ready to reapply those bands MONTHLY for quickest results.  When I did a 5 year old buck with comparable horns, it took 5 mos to get them off.  The bands do loose elasticity over time.


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## Valley Ranch (May 20, 2010)

Kate, Thanks for taking the time to reply. We will keep up on the bands and reapply them as nessary, but Are you saying they will break or just reapply them monthly in any case?

The buck has not held the banding against us in fact seems closer to us. 
He was thumping the wire to the does stall when he is in the corral.
I ran three lines[from the fence charger] across the wire. He got thumped twice, looks like it will save the wire from being pushed in.


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## bheila (May 21, 2010)

You will not be disappointed once those horns are off.  I've band 3 goats so far with Kate's advice...so glad I did it


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## Valley Ranch (May 25, 2010)

Looking forward to thoes horns coming off. Hope it doesn't take 5 months as did Kate's buck!
This is a very nice buck the girls like him, he has a good disposition.


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## helmstead (May 25, 2010)

Valley Ranch said:
			
		

> Kate, Thanks for taking the time to reply. We will keep up on the bands and reapply them as nessary, but Are you saying they will break or just reapply them monthly in any case?


Just reapply them monthly in any case.  They will become brittle, and loose effectiveness.  FYI They HATE the reapplications (the horns do become sensitive) so roll them on fast and get it over with.


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## Valley Ranch (May 26, 2010)

We will keep fresh bands on. Wifey and the girls washed Bahag, the buck, yesterday. We took him onto the hot tub deck and used warm water. He's very gentle and has a good personality, we all like him. Thanks for the support. Richard


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## Lil-patch-of-heaven (May 27, 2010)

I hope all goes well for Bahag. 

does anyone have a link for the instruction post?  I've searched for it and can't find it?  

And ...  Does this method leave the open holes into the sinuses? What kind of wounds and how serious are they (if any) using this method?  I'd be really interested in being able to remove the horns -- especially on my alpha doe who's very pushy and knows how to use them and they are pretty long and sharp (Alpine/Nubian and hers are easily 3x as long as the Nubian doe of the same age). 

Thanks for any info. Thanks again for posting this and again, good luck with Bahag. I'm still imagining a buck in the hot tub, lol.


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## Valley Ranch (May 27, 2010)

I think it does but I think they close after a while. Kate would know more about that. We use an iron to debud, this is the first time with the bands for us.


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## Valley Ranch (Aug 7, 2010)

The band dehorning failed. We think we had the bands too high. 
Yesterday we noched the horns as low as we could and installed bands. 
Let this work! This is a very good buck! He compares to Thorin, a saanen buck I had many years ago.


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## Beekissed (Aug 8, 2010)

This interests me...are the bands of which you speak the same bands one would use for castration?  And if so, when applied to the base of the horn or scur should result in them falling off eventually?  

I have a ram lamb with a scur that is small right now and I would love to try this method to remove it if possible.


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## TigerLilly (Aug 8, 2010)

Lil-patch-of-heaven said:
			
		

> does anyone have a link for the instruction post?  I've searched for it and can't find it?


I did not know you could "band" the horns! I may seriously have to consider that with my doe. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
I hope Bahag is hornless soon!


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## glenolam (Aug 9, 2010)

Valley Ranch said:
			
		

> The band dehorning failed. We think we had the bands too high.


How old is the buck?  Could it be that his horns grew after you put the bands on?

How did it work out anyway, regardless of if it worked how you wanted?  Did it seem to be a waste or give you a big old mess?  I'm curious to hear as we attempted to band a kid when the disbudding didn't work, but I gave up when we ended up with a bloody mess on our hands...


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## helmstead (Aug 9, 2010)

My step by step instructions are on another forum.  I will be happy to supply a link via PM.

FWIW, I've dehorned over 20 goats now via banding and it's worked on every last one of them (1 year to 6 years old, does and bucks).  They're usually left with a small scur...but it doesn't grow.  It is not fun, it's not easy and it's not without risk, but if you must dehorn an adult...it works.


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## Valley Ranch (Aug 17, 2010)

Greetings, Sorry for longe silence. I saw Kate's step by step, it is very good. 
To answer on question: Yes these are the same bands as for castration. 
The girls say it looks like we need to apply new bands, so we soon shall. This buck has exceptionally large horns. On younger bucks or does it should work much faster, I'm told. 


Richard


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## Valley Ranch (Aug 17, 2010)

This is Bahag before his first bath with us and before we tried dehorning. He is very gentle with the girl. Still the horns can make a mess of the barn walls.


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## Valley Ranch (Aug 17, 2010)

We were told, he was 1 1/2 yrs. But to me he looks 4 to 6 yrs to me. 
The dehorning failed, I think, because we installed the bands too high. This time we put them as low as possible. I hope we did it properly. When we reinstall the bands I'll check, I should see some sigh of restriction or effect. If I see none I'll file the groove deeper into the horn.


Richard


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## Shiloh Acres (Aug 17, 2010)

I would like to look into this once fly season is over. I'm guessing it's safer in winter?  I have a pushy doe who will use her horns purposely even though I have a bar taped on the ends. And my little buck is getting MORE pushy (sometimes -- and sometimes he's so sweet. He REALLY wants through the gate to the girls though LOL).


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## Valley Ranch (Nov 25, 2010)

Band Dehorning Update:

We banded a doe we got a couple months ago. Today she lost her second horn. The first horn was lost less than 20 days after banding. There was bleeding, the girls used stoping powder, there was less with the second horn.

With the large buck: There is no sigh oh him losing his horns. We've given up on him, he must go, he's damaging the barn and fence.

It worked well on the doe, I would do it again on a doe or young buck.

Richard


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## ksalvagno (Nov 26, 2010)

Thanks for the update. Good luck selling your male. At least you tried.


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