Banding goats horns

[Horsefly]

Well we have a month and a half old buckling and his dehorning job didn't work out so well. We had a vet burn them twice (I have since found out from here that was really dangerous) and they have still grown. 2 weeks ago they were looking like they may fall off and then I got bad pnemonia and went into the hospital for 11 days. I only got to go see them the first time yesterday. The animals were in the care of my family and they basicly just fed everything. So I have heard of people banding horns to make then fall off and was wondering how well it worked. I was thinking it would be best to do it while his horns are still really small to be the least tramatic and invasive. I really have no idea what's involved in this and if I can do it myself or what. So any tips or instructions would be great. Thanks, oh and we may show him so he really can't have horns or be messed up up there.

 

[Roll farms]

Never done it myself, but a friend of mine explained it to me.
Her dehorner's older than dirt and she often gets scurs.

She cuts (scores) a ring around the scur / horn at the base, as close to the head as she can, and then rolls the band down to that spot.

I would think the horn would need to have some length and circumferance before this method would work, though....otherwise the band won't be tight enough and could roll right back off.

Also, I wouldn't do this until wayyy before or after fly season because it takes months sometimes for the scur to fall off.

Don't know how accurate any of that info is, just what I've been told....

 

[helmstead]

Banding works great, we've banded our entire grade herd and a few registered goats - around 20 of them from young does to a 5 year old buck. The goat needs to be over 6 mos old, though, and it's not always a walk in the park.

Wait until he's older before you fuss with it. He's already been burned twice, I think reburning isn't a good option. To show, with Nigis and Dairy Goats anyway...you can't have a scur over 3" long...so...see what really happens.

 

[lorihadams]

Do you have to take the horns off? We are getting registered nigis soon and they are coming to us disbudded but my hubby says he doesn't have the heart to do it after watching a video on youtube. Just wondering if it is better to leave them on, burn them with an iron, or wait and band them?

 

[ksalvagno]

Helmstead - How did you do the banding on the older goats?

There is an Alpine doe in milk that someone wants to get rid of on Craigslist and I'm really tempted since that would mean immediate milk and a full size dairy goat but she still has her horns.

lorihadams - coming from someone with little experience but watching the disbudding, I personally think I prefer disbudding the little kids. It truly is over so quickly and they forget so quickly what happened. If you plan to show, dairy goats have to be without horns. I think it would be much harder and more stressful to dehorn them later. Yes, it is one of those distasteful tasks but I look at it as one that just has to be done and just buck up and do it.

 

[helmstead]

Karen - I'll PM you a link to my step by step on another, private forum...

Disbudding is no big deal. We were staunchly against it at first, but once we learned how to do it...it's over in seconds and the kids forget immediately. DeHORNING is not for the faint of heart or those who cannot/will not get their hands on a vet/pain meds/etc in my opinion. It is painful, drawn out and can be bloody, messy and cause an infection if not looked well after.

Horns, well...they are destructive. We've replaced thousands of dollars worth of fence because of them. Not to mention, show goats cannot have them. My Nubian (who is disbudded) Scarlett smacked me on the face once on accident and broke my nose - if she'd had horns I would have been in OR getting facial reconstruction. So, nowadays, I'm pretty anti-horns.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Disbudding is the way to go! We just got our first kids in January and were lucky enough to be a part of the process. I think Kate's tougher than I am but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty awful and you'll want to get a drink after witnessing it, but it really is the best option for the goat. It will be harder on you than it is on the kids!

 

[helmstead]

I think Kate's tougher than I am

Did you see ME with the iron in my hand??

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Oh yeah. Well, I'm going to have to buck up, I think Jim would pass out if I made him do it!

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Does Kelly do it herself? She was so blase about the banding, it seems like she could handle it.