Dehorning Adults

[Tonkatuff]

Is it possible? I recently adopted a Pygmy & a Boer x and the Boer is sweet but the little Pygmy doe is a terrorist. And her horns are really pointed like true devil horns... she has already skewered my butt and almost impaled my knee... Is there any way to even blunt them, maybe cut them down half way??

 

[Emmetts Dairy]

I read here before that people used small tennis balls?? And worked great...also you can band them...I would recomend doing that when its not fly season.

But I know some people that do cut tips and round off tips...so yes there are options.

Complete removal of the horns must be done by a vet and is a very involved operation. So banding and/or tennis balls..may be the best bet??

Good luck...OUCH!! sounds like it hurts when he butts you!!

 

[Ariel301]

You can have a vet saw them off...it is a gross, bloody, painful procedure and takes a very long time to heal.

You can use an elastrator tool to put castration bands around the base of the horns and they may come off that way...I've tried it before though and it's a long, messy process that made the wethers I tried it on very head shy. And the horns grew back deformed after they fell off.

You might be able to use some kind of tool to gently blunt the tips, don't take off too much though or there will be a lot of bleeding and pain.

Or, you could potentially train her not to touch people with her horns. That's much easier done when you start with a young kid though, not an adult who already has bad habits.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Our farm is always for the least hurtful and least painfull option possible. So, it sounds like the best option is the tennis balls.

After viewing webpages on how to disbud(rather grusome for those with mild to weak stomachs), we chose to let our herd keep their horns. We have also found that they are easier to hold & lead if their horns are still intact. Goats would naturally fight being led, but when they are led by their horns they are more then willing to cooperate with you.

 

[Ariel301]

Our farm is always for the least hurtful and least painfull option possible. So, it sounds like the best option is the tennis balls.

After viewing webpages on how to disbud(rather grusome for those with mild to weak stomachs), we chose to let our herd keep their horns. We have also found that they are easier to hold & lead if their horns are still intact. Goats would naturally fight being led, but when they are led by their horns they are more then willing to cooperate with you.

Yes, those horns do make good handles. We also prefer to leave them on most goats. We disbudded our buck because our last one was horned and became dangerously aggressive to me, to other goats, and destroyed a lot of fencing, housing, and basically anything he could. So, for my safety and that of my farm, he is hornless. We keep a couple of does disbudded for showing, since ADGA shows as well as the local county fair do not allow horns, but our production herd keeps their horns. We work hard from day one to train them in appropriate behavior to people though, they are not allowed to touch anyone with their horns.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

We have also found that they are easier to hold & lead if their horns are still intact. Goats would naturally fight being led, but when they are led by their horns they are more then willing to cooperate with you.

I've found the opposite to be true. Every animal I've handled with horns has really hated anyone touching their horns at all. :/

 

[julieq]

All of our mini and ND goats are dehorned, mostly disbudded as kids. We recently purchased a buck with severe scurs, who immediately terrorized our older buck. We waited until fly season was over, then took him to the vet to be dehorned under general anesthesia. It does leave open sinus cavities and the drainage is pretty gross for awhile, but it heals up fine.