Trimming a scur

[Ruus]

One of my ewes has a scur that's growing back around into her eye. I didn't think it would grow long enough to be a problem, but this spring it seems to be exploding out of her head. It needs to be trimmed, and I'm wondering if I should get a vet to do it or try to do it myself. Is trimming a scur any easier than trimming a full horn? She broke the other one off short last year, and it didn't bleed at all, so I think maybe the living core doesn't extend very far from her head?

The other problem is that the scur curves flat against her head. I'm not sure how I would get anything under the horn to trim it.The picture's from a few weeks ago, and it has grown since then. The tip is about half an inch from her eye now. The vet's coming out later this summer to castrate her ram lamb, but the scur is growing so quickly I'm afraid to wait that long.

 

[Roving Jacobs]

When I've had horn problems the vet has always used a gigle saw or wire saw and just made sure to pull it towards himself. With a wire saw you might be able to thread it under without cutting her face. If it's really close to her skin though having a vet out wouldn't be a bad idea.