# Buying the right disbudding stuff?



## GrowURown (Apr 17, 2011)

I am NO PRO...and I SUCK at ordering things online...but wife just doesn't have it in her right now to be doing much around the farm as she is spending most of her time centered on the passing of her friend.  OTHERWISE THIS WOULD BE HER JOB!  I am ripping out the few non-gray hairs I have and growing back gray ones!  I don't want to be the responsible adult anymore! Vent over...

WHAT DISBUDDING IRON EXACTLY SHOULD I BE ORDERING?

The stats:  we have nigi and pgymy/nigi/idk crosses...everyone here is small.  May or may not make a difference...

Not going to be doing a ton of goat kids...but enough that at $15 a pop, it's cheaper for us to get an iron of our own...basically we dropped $60 yesterday and if we had one more kid to do the cost would have equaled getting the Rinehart X-30 for ourselves (of course the money spent also gained us knowledge since we had never done it ourselves, so I look at it like a class at the JC really...but still...you see where I am going with this right?)

WHAT OTHER ACCESSORIES DO WE NEED?  I am a welder, I have PLENTY of welding gloves...what else?  Spray on meds? painkillers of some sort? (we gave them a tiny bit of childrens tylenol last night and it dropped to 48 degrees here, which I figured the cool weather MUST have felt good on their little heads)...

Yesterday when we had the babies done, they used that silver stuff..Alushield?  IDK...I hate the stuff because it gets every where (used it on a horse once per the vet...HATED IT! I had a perfectly good hat ruined trying to spray that stuff on that darn horse!) What would be better? More blukote perhaps?  i dunno...

I want to try and get one ordered before Bambi kids...(hopefully when she hears THAT she WILL kid...probably before it arrives too, she's got to be just waiting on the payment on a disbudding iron to go through...)  But yeah, I want to go ahead and get one coming in the mail...and I am on my own right now...

If ya'll make me a shopping list, I can handle the rest   As for budget...trying to keep it realistic, don't need anything gold plated around here...but we have something put aside for this... I don't want to cut any corners with this, as it seems so important...just saying...I am prepared!  I have the credit card back! I AM going to buy something today!


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## BetterHensandGardens (Apr 17, 2011)

We need to get disbudding stuff too, so I don't have any answers; but glad you asked the questions


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## helmstead (Apr 17, 2011)

X30 or X50 (we use the X50) with the SMALL tip but NOT the pygmy tip (yeah, it's too small even for pygmies).

Wound Kote/Blue Kote - some sort of antiseptic spray

Small clippers - #10 blade (people beard trimmers, rechargeable, are great) to trim the hair.


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## GrowURown (Apr 17, 2011)

Is this is?  (I found it on caprine supply...)  Rhinehart X50 Goat Disbudding Iron with Small Caprine Tip


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## Roll farms (Apr 17, 2011)

I like the X-40 just fine, too.

Def. go w/ a Rhinehart, though.


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## GrowURown (Apr 17, 2011)

well...all I had to do was mention DISBUDDING IRON and start looking 'em up and BAM we got a baby...do you think I could get one shipped in time for this baby?  I sure do hope so...we have one questionable/probably pregnant doe left to pop anyways (though she is kinda skitzy and mean and we care - just she won't let us get close to her)...man! I am at a loss now...bother...not to bother...guess it is time for bed....

OH!  What is the difference in the X30 - 40 - 50?  not the technical on paper stuff, but has anyone noticed anything personally they would like to share (i.e. "I have used the X___, then got an X___ and like this one better because)...


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## Roll farms (Apr 18, 2011)

I have only ever owned the X-40, so I can't offer a comparison...sorry.

I dunno who you're ordering from, but Jeffers usually ships out w/in a day, and I get my stuff in 3 or 4 days.  Plenty of time if you *cue tv voice* ACT NOW!


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## chubbydog811 (Apr 18, 2011)

I have the x-50 and love it! It was well worth the money. Our vet charges $45 per goat, and that is just way too much! The disbudder has already paid itself off from the first kid that I sold!

You would be better off going with Jeffers- they ship within 3-4 days after your order is placed...Hoegger takes at least a week.


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## lilhill (Apr 18, 2011)

I have the X30 and X50 ... had problems with keeping the X50 tip tight enough on the iron to make good contact.  Kept getting too many scurs before finding out about the contact issue.  The X30 is my preferred one with the regular tip.  Love it!   Now, that should confuse you in your decision making.


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## RabbleRoost Farm (Apr 23, 2011)

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/disbudding.htm#dehorning

The lady on this site relates her own experiences with the different size Rhinehart irons and prefers the X30 over the X50 because it heats up faster since there's no larger calf disbudding tip for it to heat up before it heats the intended goat tip. I'm planning on getting an X30 because of the increased speed on the smaller (and cheaper!) version.

That link also has a lot of information on how to disbud and has step by step pictures and such if you wanted to look over it.


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## GrowURown (Apr 23, 2011)

Well...I went ahead and ordered the X30...it seemed like the easiest route for just a few goats, and well...I found it on Jeffers site first, so I did it before I could chicken out!  That was several days ago...it still ain't arrived, I;m guessing because of the holiday, but when it gets here we have our first goat to do already, so I HOPE it comes Monday!


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## Goatmasta (Apr 23, 2011)

The x30 is the perfect choice for you...   If you are burning to a golden ring, you are good to go. if you are burning to the skull and removing the the "bud" then you will want to slightly modify your tip.  What I do is remove the "bud".  So I always take a dremel tool to the inside of the tip and "thin" it kind of like sharpening it.  You want to leave it blunt, but only about half the thickness that the tip comes...   This helps to "cut" through the hide and makes it much faster it usually takes me about 5-7 secs verses 15-25 secs otherwise.  (this is total burn time)....  I personally use the x50  but I am usually doing 5-10 kids at a time..


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