Advice on Getting 3yr Old Buck Dehorned

[Pioneer Chicken]

Hey y'all! I bought a buck with horns and am wanting to get him dehorned. I called the vet's office (they have about 12 vets there) and the first vet I spoke with told me it would most likely go very well and that the chances of complications were low. So, I saved back some money and when I got enough, I went ahead and measured Gus's horns and the diameter; they are 10 and 17 inches long and about 6-7 inches in diameter. I called the office again, this time getting another vet on the line. He said that he is the one who does most of the dehorning and that on bucks with horns that big often have ongoing issues with infections in the sinuses and that he wouldn't recommend me getting him dehorned. He has goats himself and he told me that he prefers horns in his herd. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but I'm considering what he said without basing it on his preferences. Since I got two very different answers from these vets, I thought it'd be better to get some advice from y'all who have had their goats dehorned.

That being said, I absolutely do not like having horns in my herd; if I can't get him dehorned, I will sell him. I'd be bummed at the latter because I'm very impressed with my buck's conformation and the kids he had in his previous herd looked quite promising but will do what I need to to be satisfied with my herd. What has y'all's experience with dehorning been? Did you vet dehorn a buck with horns that big? If so, did the buck heal nicely? Did you have ongoing issues with sinus problems?

 

[Green Acres Farm]

I know @Southern by choice had one of her goats dehorned. I am thinking about getting one of my does dehorned (in profile pic) so I'll be interested to see how it goes if you go through with it!

 

[Pioneer Chicken]

Yes, I remember that! I forgot to mention that the second vet I talked to said that the does typically have smaller bases and thus he felt more comfortable with doing them than with the older bucks that had bigger bases. What is the diameter of your doe's horns?

 

[secuono]

I've seen people use castration bands to dehorn them.

 

[Green Acres Farm]

Yes, I remember that! I forgot to mention that the second vet I talked to said that the does typically have smaller bases and thus he felt more comfortable with doing them than with the older bucks that had bigger bases. What is the diameter of your doe's horns?

5"

 

[Pioneer Chicken]

I've seen people use castration bands to dehorn them.

I tried that for him but they snapped off within days.

5"

Okay, thanks; definitely smaller than my buck!

 

[Southern by choice]

I have a thread on this in one of my articles-
There is a spoiler alert - when you click on that it will show you very graphic photos.
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/de-horned-2yr-old-doe-week-3-update.28257/page-2#post-358403


The hardest thing about bucks is they have a MUCH broader horn base and it can be riskier.

On our doe we have had no issues with sinuses or infection. We did purchase a buck once that was dehorned (basically had big scurs and they dehorned) but it was down deep enough and eventually scurs did start to grow back but they were flat and no real horns... easily managed.

You may wamt to see if they can gigli wire the horns down to a managable length without hitting the blood vessel. I have a pic of one of our bucks that we bought that developed bad scurs and grew funny. We manage his with a gigli wire.
bottom of page.
https://www.backyardherds.com/resources/horns-dis-bud-polled.31/

 

[Green Acres Farm]

@Southern by choice and @Pioneer Chicken, ~ how much do y'alls vets charge for this? We've had 2 instances (so far) of having to put a goat under general anesthesia and both were pretty pricy. Just curious what the price range was for you and I will ask my vet in a couple weeks next time we visit.

 

[babsbag]

I had a buck done that had been disbudded but ended up growing a horn, almost like a unicorn horn. I have no idea the horn base was. After removal there was an open hole into his sinuses for months. It got infected. It was a long process getting it to heal but once it did there were no lingering problems.

I have another buck to do now too.

 

[Southern by choice]

I will say that I believe bucks are much harder than does. Also it really does take two people to change the dressings and keep things clean.
Surprisingly our girl did get use to it and was fine with the bandage changes.
I have no idea how @babsbag did this on her own... which I know she did.