Disbudding for the first time, Please Help!!

[ForeverDreamingFarm]

Hi! I am extremely new to this, recently took on some of my grandmothers Hair Sheep. We have 5 ewes, 1 gave birth to twin girls (yay!) a little over a month ago and they’re doing great in spite of all my worrying. Another of our sweet girls just gave birth to a ram lamb.... we had decided that we would get rid of any males as with their horns can be so destructive! But now that he is here I don’t think I will be able to part with him. That being said, we have decided to disbud him. He’s 3 days old today, I’ve ordered the iron. But I’m VERY NERVOUS!!! Is there any medication I need to give him or apply afterward? Am I to understand the tip of the iron should fit around the bud but not be wider than the bud? Is there any problem with them nursing afterward (sore head)? It’s breaking my heart even thinking about it, but I know he will have a great life with us, if we can just get this done. Thankyou for any advice.

 

[Roving Jacobs]

I've not heard of anyone disbudding sheep and most hairsheep breeds are naturally polled. Are you sure he will have horns? At 3 days you will be able to feel horns coming through already if he's horned. Don't have any advice if he does need to be disbudded as I'm a big fan of horns but maybe ask any dairy goat people near you for help/

 

[HomeOnTheRange]

There are several threads with entries on this subject. All of them I think are with goats (I know they will scream like crazy). The sheep gurus I know on here are @Mike CHS and @Baymule.
The big things is to keep the head still and make sure the burn is long enough to get the bud, but his is only from reading post on this forum.

 

[Baymule]

I don't disbud sheep, have no idea on that. I had a Dorper ram that had scurs and his sons/grandsons show tiny horns. So I castrate them, name them Dinner and take them to slaughter. I may only keep 1 or 2 ewe lambs out of 10. I am trying for the best flock that I can breed, so hard decisions have to be made. I now have a fantastic ram, but I won't be keeping any of his sons. I have 10 ewes and I am going to probably cull 2 of them and I am keeping 2 of the ewe lambs from my new ram.

You say that y'all can't part with him now. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but if you continue to breed sheep and have lambs, there will be more ram lambs. They are adorable, so cute and you just want to hold them and squeeze them until their eyes bug out. I get it. But you can't keep them all. At some point, you will have to face the feelings that we all struggle with, that of having to sell or put meat in the freezer. At the very least, you can't leave them intact as rams, they will grow up and all that cuteness goes away. You didn't mention if you have a ram or not, are you keeping this one as a flock sire?

If you can't find any dairy goat people near you, then I would watch you tube videos. Where are you located? There may be some BYH people near you that you could take the lamb and iron to for a disbudding lesson.

 

[ForeverDreamingFarm]

I don't disbud sheep, have no idea on that. I had a Dorper ram that had scurs and his sons/grandsons show tiny horns. So I castrate them, name them Dinner and take them to slaughter. I may only keep 1 or 2 ewe lambs out of 10. I am trying for the best flock that I can breed, so hard decisions have to be made. I now have a fantastic ram, but I won't be keeping any of his sons. I have 10 ewes and I am going to probably cull 2 of them and I am keeping 2 of the ewe lambs from my new ram.

You say that y'all can't part with him now. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but if you continue to breed sheep and have lambs, there will be more ram lambs. They are adorable, so cute and you just want to hold them and squeeze them until their eyes bug out. I get it. But you can't keep them all. At some point, you will have to face the feelings that we all struggle with, that of having to sell or put meat in the freezer. At the very least, you can't leave them intact as rams, they will grow up and all that cuteness goes away. You didn't mention if you have a ram or not, are you keeping this one as a flock sire?

If you can't find any dairy goat people near you, then I would watch you tube videos. Where are you located? There may be some BYH people near you that you could take the lamb and iron to for a disbudding lesson.

The rams from this flock have HUGE horns. They are Hair sheep (Khatadin, St Croix and Barbados) so I don’t know if that makes a difference. This little guy had buds first thing from birth, so I have no doubt he would end up with a set.
The sheep we have are a select few we took from my grnadmother’s Flock to help her reduce her numbers. We boarded her entire flock for her for two months while she moved and the rams all but tore my barn down ( not from the lack of trying).
We kept only 5 and all ewes, however 4 of them came to us pregnant so they are all starting to lamb now.
I’m going to band this little guy for castration. We have no desire to breed them for now as they are just our entertaining lawn mowers. I may try my hand at milking this season, but after this lambing any (if at all) breeding in the future will be intentional and we will then have a plan
So if I castrate this new guy and am able to disbud, I have two more ewes ready to lamb, I’ll do the same if they give me rams.
Thankyou everyone for your advice, I’m off to watch YouTube videos and just suck it up!

 

[Baymule]

The huge horns must come from the Barbados. I wish I could be more help to you, but mine are polled.

 

[AlaynaMayGoatLady]

I did a YouTube video on this (for goats) a few years ago. Here’s the link:

Hope this is helpful!