Can ya'll tell me about disbudding? I have not disbudded a goat before. I have a little doeling that is two weeks old. She has bumps for her horns but the skin is still over the horn. Should the horn break the skin before I burn it or should I burn now that I'm starting to feel it? I do not want to wait to long and have horns. Thank you all for answers as this is the first little doeling that is for my baby girl.
What breed is it? I have nigerian dwarf goats & disbud the bucks by 1 wk of age & the girls by 2 weeks of age. I've heard some other breeds are done later though. If the horn is protruded up that you can feel it by running your fingers over it, it's probably time. They grow fast so will want to get it done before it gets too large for the disbudding iron.
disbudding now will ensure a better outcome. YOu want to burn their buds before they attach to the skull (which when that happends it makes disbudding so much harder and you experience scurs more often then not). You can disbud kids at a day old or at 1 month old (some have done even older) but the point is that yes you can do it now
Best suggestion I can give is to see it done a few times before trying it yourself. Its not a pretty process but they get over it very quickly and its only done once. If you can, find a breeder or someone nearby with goats and ask if you can watch them disbud their next kids.
Do you already own a disbudding iron? I was a first timer in Sept and hadn't purchased one until I needed it (3 days old is what I was told for my nubians). Bee-Bopped down to the feed store to get an iron...$100!!! So point it, I strongly second what Sweet Gum Minis suggested about getting in ouch with a local who has experience AND an iron. Especially if you are like I was....not fully commited to the idea of MORE goats in the future. I bet as helpful as goat people are, they would loan you their iron, do it for you, something for a lot less than a $100 iron you may never use again. In my case I am stuck with an unregisterable Sable/Nubian FULLY intact horned goat.
If you've never done it i strongly reccomend watching an experienced person do it a few times. I feel a box is a must as is a pair of heavy leather gloves. I disbud my kids ASAP but i have alpines. other breeds you can wait longer. I have done nigies for people at three or more months. beth
Thank you all! We do not have any breeders close to us. We did do the disbubbing. The process is harder for the goat than for me. The wife asked for pictures so off I go to look for some somewhere on this site that I have seen before to compare.
Fias Co Farm has a ton of info & pictures on about every goat topic. Here is a link to their disbudding page: http://fiascofarm.com/goats/disbudding.htm
I have a question about disbudding as well. My doelings are 8-9 weeks old. Their horn nubs aren't large, maybe 1/2 my pinky fingers tip and still under skin. Can you really disbud an older kid? I wouldn't want to deal with scurs, but the thought of these little girls having horns the size of their mother's scares me a bit. Not for my personal safety, but I have 2 little boys and plan to have several other does (wouldn't want any horns causing miscarriages). Would you recommend this? Or should I just hope the girls don't use them? I don't trust myself to do it, I would travel to someone more experienced. Thoughts, please and thanks.
for their horns to be that small I am amazed -- but yah try a breeder near you and see if they dont mind giving it a shot. As long as they are still small enough so that the iron gets around the whole thing they should be able to be burned. I would suggest you get some banamine for them for the pain though as the burn will need to be longer.
Should I be concerned that their horns are still that small? Noel's umbilical cord is *still* attached as well. :?
they could be stunted from being taken from mom at 6 weeks. But I havent raised pygmies in a while and i usually disbudded them at 2-4 weeks so I wouldnt know exactly how big they should be at 8 weeks
I agree, as long as the nub fits in the tip of the iron it will be fine. Make sure you get that nice copper color ring when you pull the iron off of the goats head or you could end up with a scur. My herd sire was actually disbudded 3 times by the original owner & he still grew a horn--so try to get it done right the first time. They say that bucks produce so much testosterone that it's actually harder to keep those horns from growing--so getting the bucks right away may be a crucial step in stopping growth. Also, I recommend spraying Furrall on the bud area after disbudding both--make sure not to get in the goats eyes though.
Minis seem to be slower at growing horns the other breeds. Alpines i would never consider doing at more then three days old. Some of my buck kids i do at 24 hours old. This is why i insist on a deposit for whethers where people want horns. But minis and nubians you can wait longer. I have done nigies at up to three months of age and had no problems. beth
