When is too old to re-burn scurs

[GOATBOOTS]

I have never had or seen scurs in person before. The woman who is coming on Thursday to pick up my Nubian buckling she bought from me asked me about a 4 month old Nubian doe she has. She said she has a very small scur but nothing you can just pull off. The breeder she got her from has apparantly not been very helpful. I disbud my babies myself. Is it an age thing that makes it too late to re-burn, or the size of the scur. I told her I would do some research and if I thought it was safe I would re-burn her female for her when she picks up my buckling. Any info helps. Thanks.

 

[Chirpy]

I'm waiting to see what the pros on dis-budding have to say as this is a question I've been asking the last two weeks myself.

 

[Goatmasta]

It is advisable to wait 6-8 wks between burnings. There is no age limit per say. I have re-burned a 4yr old.. It's messy anyway you go about it in older goats. If it is huge, the best way is to use a bone saw (thin cable with handles on each end) cut it off then burn.

 

[GOATBOOTS]

Ok thanks. She said it is very small and should fit inside the tip on my disbuddig iron. I just want to help her out since the breeder I got my goats from was so helpful to me when I first started. I thought I could pass some knowledge along. She was wanting to learn how to disbud anyway.

 

[BetterHensandGardens]

I agree with Goatmasta, we had one doe that was disbudded four times before the horn/scur quit growing (picture here: http://www.betterhensandgardens.com/2010/12/05/disbudding-yet-again/) and she was 9 months old at the last disbudding - so it's just generally the earlier you get it the less mess involved.

 

[GOATBOOTS]

I am pretty comfortable with disbudding, but I must admit I am a little nervous about doing such a large goat.

 

[Goatmasta]

You will do fine.. If you want to compare notes PM me.

 

[Chirpy]

I use the Rhinehart X50... it comes standard as a calf disbudder - you add a smaller tip for goats.

Can I use the calf disbudder (without the additonal tip) to re-disbud a problem on a small goat? My thought for not using it would be that it gets hotter without the tip??? (I don't know if that's true.. looking for answers here) and could thus hurt the goat?? If I can use it I have a better chance at getting the tip all the way around the bud/horn that's still growing.

 

[Goatmasta]

Chirpy I would not do that if I were doing it..

 

[Ariel301]

I use the x50, and have used the calf tip on some that accidentally got too big before disbudding. You've got to be careful, and I wouldn't recommend doing it if you aren't good at disbudding, but it's not really a huge deal. In fact, I just did a four month old doeling for a neighbor this afternoon, she was disbudded at the right time, but with a faulty iron and she started to regrow a whole horn a couple of weeks ago on one side. He didn't get to it in time and it was about half an inch long, it took three rounds of burning and cutting back the burned horn and burning again, but she came through it just fine, was bouncing and eating hay five minutes later. I think I may need a glass of wine though. :/ I hate disbudding.