Buckling has abnormal horn after disbudding-Advice needed please!

[Emmetts Dairy]

Just a sidenote..even if a vet does the burn...dos'nt always mean its not gonna scur. I have a buck that has scurs and have to deal with regularly. Not fun for him. So you should find someone expirenced. A breeder...or show person who has much more expirence in disbudding...or anyone who has alot of expirence for that matter who has a larger herd and does it often. But remeber vets dont do this reqularly..even the larger vets. Just something to keep in mind. But after you fiqure out whats going on with that swollen disbud area...I would do research and definatley do a reburn before he gets too old.

Good luck...poor little guy...hope it goes okay for you both.

PS I love my vet..he's a large animal vet...but he cant disbud very good at all!! Sorry doc..but its the truth!! lol!!

 

[Pearce Pastures]

I have an article on my blog about disbudding (with a video) if you want to learn how to do it. The scur-horns are not necessary if you disbud properly. I know several here do not do it like I do. However, I have never had a scur-horn. If you want to know how to remove the scur-horns PM me. I would be glad to help.

Thanks for sharing the video!

 

[willow_top_farm]

Mzyla, I will definetly love him, no matter how the horns turn out. I'm wondering tho if it will be a problem to show him for 4H? He's my son's project goat, and this is our first time in 4H... Did you bring yours to a vet? If so, what did s/he say? How long did it take to heal from this? It's been a bit more than a week so far far.

I'm not really happy about the disbudding job on any of my bucklings that my breeder did. I was really hoping she'd be the one to trust to do it, she has a very large herd and does it a lot. However, every one of the kids she burned has scurs now and this one, well you can already see what happened. The does I bought from her have scurs as well, question is how to trim them? One doe has a scur curling back into her head. Can I use hoove trimmers? And how far can I cut back at a time, will they bleed like dog's nails?

I didn't get home in time to take Freddy to the vet today, I'll call first thing in the morning. It looks the same. I'm hoping this will not be a very involved drama, not to mention expensive! We'll see, I guess.

I appreciate all the dialogue and advice on here! Thanks! I'll give an update on what happens.

p.s. As far as learning to disbud, definitely not wanting to do this myself. I bought the goats more for the milk, experience and "homesteading"...not for show. However, I thought 4H would be a great experience for my kids, thus the disbudding. In the future, for next breeding, I may decide not to disbudd at all. I'll have to really think about it.

 

[helmstead]

p.s. As far as learning to disbud, definitely not wanting to do this myself. I bought the goats more for the milk, experience and "homesteading"...not for show. However, I thought 4H would be a great experience for my kids, thus the disbudding. In the future, for next breeding, I may decide not to disbudd at all. I'll have to really think about it.

Not to push you one way or the other (because disbudding is a completely personal decision)...but if you do decide to have future kids disbudded, just look around for someone else to do it, and check references 1st.

A well disbudded kid, 99.9% of the time...equals a no trauma no drama hornless animal later.

Shame that you're having scurs and other issues with your first goats. :/

You can use hoof nippers or a dremmel tool. You can also get a bone saw from your vet while you're there, which make scur trimming pretty easy once you get them going. The danger with hoof nippers is they can remove the WHOLE scur, down to the bone...and if it was well attached, it can really bleed (more gross than dangerous, but still )

 

[willow_top_farm]

I just dropped off the poor little guy at the vet's. The Dr.'s first thoughts are that it's abnormal bony growth as it feels very hard. He also said that he's seen this before. He sedated him and will have to surgically cut it off as it can lead to sinus troubles later. He's checking out the other horn too and I'm getting him tattooed while he's at it. I'll pick him up later today and will know more details. Cross your fingers for me that it all goes well and that I won't have to re-mortgage the house to pay for it!:/

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

That's good it wasn't an infection. It sure looked angry enough! Hope the sedation goes well.

 

[Mossy Stone Farm]

hopeing fo rthe best....

 

[willow_top_farm]

Ok, picked Freddy up from the vet. (He gave me the ole stink eye through a fully bandaged head.) The verdict was the it was all abnormal boney growth and the vet had to take a bone saw to it. He said it was gorey...ugh. He believes the other horn will be fine. I can take the bandage off tomorrow and spray it with Blue Kote. So overall, I think it was a good outcome. I think I've met my quota for "incidents" tho.

Oh yeah, for those that may be curious I was charged $150.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Ok, picked Freddy up from the vet. (He gave me the ole stink eye through a fully bandaged head.) The verdict was the it was all abnormal boney growth and the vet had to take a bone saw to it. He said it was gorey...ugh. He believes the other horn will be fine. I can take the bandage off tomorrow and spray it with Blue Kote. So overall, I think it was a good outcome. I think I've met my quota for "incidents" tho.

Oh yeah, for those that may be curious I was charged $150.

$150 is not bad for where I live. Hope all works out and the little guy is all better and your son is able to show him.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Does he have a hole in his skull now or is it flush with is head? I think that would make me pass out if he had a hole. I've seen pictures of that before.