The
following information has been complied for general reference
and educational purposes only. It is not intended, in any
way to replace professional veterinary advice or care for
your goats. The following information was originally compiled
from various sources (on-line, books, anecdotally, and person
experience) that reported the successful application of the
following on goats, as listed. This information is presented
without any guarantee. Any person making the decision to act
upon this information should consult with their Veterinarian
first and is solely responsible for the effects of their own
actions.
Using
Embryo Wire or Cutters to Dehorn Goats
In a search done in June 2007, I found the following: Dehorning
of goats (as distinct from disbudding)
should only be performed under general anaesthesia or narcosis.
Dehorning should only be performed by, or under the supervision
of, a registered veterinary practitioner (Animal Welfare
Act 2002).
Some Breeders have used embryo wire or cutters to cut a
goat's horns off. When we first started removing horns,
we were shown how to cut them off with cutters. There is
a lot of blood. The base of the horn is hollow, so when
it is cut off, it leaves a hole in the head that is part
of the sinus cavity. The procedure should not be done on
a really hot day and the animal should not have been running
around too much prior to the operation as this will increase
the amount of blood lost. When using embryo wire, the sawing
action often seals the blood vessels off, there will be
a lot less blood with this method.
If the animal has small horns it will have small holes.
When cut, the blood will usually congeal to fill the hole,
dehorning powder is applied to help dry the area and to
help prevent infection. Smaller holes are left open.
Our Vet bandaged the animals with big open cavities (big
horns removed) to offer the animal a little protection for
its open sinus cavity. It is very important that the cavity
NOT be cleaned out or allowed to get wet, as it will slow
the healing process. It is normal for wound holes to develop
a smelly mucus discharge that lasts from 1 to 8 weeks depending
on the size of the hole. It will get VERY mucky so it will
need to have de-horning powder applied to try to keep it
as dry as possible. An antiseptic spray with a fly repellent
should be used daily to keep the flies away until the area
appears to be dry. We applied this at feed time when the
goats had their heads down, rather than having to wrestle
them later. The hole will eventually close, it can take
anywhere up to 4 months to completely heal causing no real
problems for the animal. Cut horns will continue to grow.
After experiencing the process and now knowing that the
horns continue to grow when cut, we will not put horned
goats through this form of dehorning. We try not to buy
horned goats.
Using
emasculating rings to dehorn goats.
Some breeders have used emasculating rings to dehorn their
goats. We found a couple of websites on the Internet that
describe the process: Two or three rings are put at the base
of each horn in the hairline, (sometimes the first one needs
to be taped on, then the other rings are put over this further
down into the hairline).
The
rings cut off the circulation to the growing horns causing
them to fall off, usually 2-8 weeks, sometimes longer (depending
on the size of the horn and the age of the animal). It is
a non-invasive technique (you do not end up with a big hole
in the goats head, the area actually closes in), and it requires
no specific after care or maintenance, unless they get bumped
off early, in which case you would apply dehorning powder.
This method does work, if you can get the rings down far enough
and provided they do not roll back off the horn. It is best
to put three and sometimes four rings at the base of each
horn (helps prevent them rolling back off or perishing before
they have long enough to "cut in". It is NOT recommended
that a groove be cut into the base of the horn and horns should
be long enough and not too tapered.
It is painful for the animal for as long as 3-4 hours after
application and the animal often sits away from everyone until
the horns finally fall off, in an effort to avoid being bumped.
Provided the goat does not hook the horn/s on something just
before they are ready to come off, the horn/s will fall off
on their own, without any sign of pain and usually do not
grow back.
In my opinion, even though it works, I dont believe that we
should wait until the animal is 12mths or so to dehorn in
this manner especially when disbudding is so much easier,
less stressful and a quicker procedure for the animal.
Horn
Stories
The following are some of the many stories that I remember
in my many years of keeping these wonderful little creatures……
All of our original goats were horned. We had a very small
handful of goats (in the beginning) who were all kept out
the paddock, away from the house. Most of these animals were
"RESCUES", animals that people no longer wanted
and destined for the "meat works". I would have
to go out two or three times a day to pull goats out of the
fencing (stuck by horns) and they were always fed over the
fence as they were very rough with each other at feed time
(grain) poking and pushing each other and we always managed
to get in between two squabbling animals and get poked.
I
remember one animal in particular, a big shaggy buck with
the most beautiful (and very impressive) set of horns on
him. A lovely natured thing but pretty scary looking, I
admit. The owner's neighbours had told my mum, who of course
told me, that this poor creature had been tied to a tree
in the back paddock (near a water trough) a few years back
and just left there to fend for himself. Sure enough, when
I contacted the owner, they were only too happy for me to
"come out and remove it". Their kids had wanted
him as a baby, fed him on the bottle then as he grew they
didn't want to play with him anymore because they were scared
of his horns. Dad took him down the paddock and tied him
up under a tree and this is where he stayed. Covered in
30-40cm of thick matted hair, full of lice and a bag of
bones, barely able to stand but happy to have a little attention…..what
a wonderful life……
After months of TLC he scrubbed up beautifully, and was
gentle and friendly enough to be re-homed at a farm stay
park (living off the tether, but behind a fence for safety
reasons) with a small group of his own kind!
We
had two big boys (one a rescue), that we kept in a big round
yard. They became best of mates and often enjoyed playing
"push around" games. One morning I came out to
find the smaller of the two, hooked up by the back leg,
in between his mates horns. He had quite a nasty gash in
his tummy, obviously from his struggle to free himself and
his buddy had a blood nose and swollen eye, possibly from
being slammed into the ground as his friend tried to get
free…….
I
was bending down over the feed dish giving it a clean just
as one of my 3mth old bottle babies was bringing its head
up for a cuddle. I coped a very pointy horn under my jaw
and I saw stars…..
Drenching
goats….what a job. We would pop them in the round yard
and rig up some portable fencing to use as a runway, letting
the dosed goats back out into the paddock as we went so
they were not double dosed. Well, even the most quiet of
goats will not stand to take her medicine and by the end
of the day, both of us had scratches, poke marks and bruises
on arms, legs and the odd bump on the boob.....
I
had a young doe hook into her mate at dinner time, ripping
a hole up under the inside of her leg, requiring 8 stitches.
The little doe could not walk on her leg for a week or so
after the incident….I asked several Dairy goat breeders
about removing horns and contacted our local vet.
My
daughter (2yrs old) was cuddling one of her bottle babies
sitting on her lap and it swung its head back and she was
hit with the little horn 2cm away from her eye. She did
not need stitches but she sure had a nice big black eye
the next morning…. After this incident, we bought a
disbudding iron for removing horns from our next lot of
baby goats. We then decided to sell off the goats we had
with horns and remove horns from the ones that we wanted
to keep......
I
was told by a breeder a few years back that one of her little
does hooked its horns through the collar on it's mate while
rubbing her head on the other ones shoulder. From what I
remember, the Breeder found the pair the next morning, one
mate dead, the other in pretty bad shape…
A
year or two ago, my mums neighbour's dogs decided that they
would play "tag" with his goat, a big friendly
horned wether kept in their backyard (on about 2acres).
This poor little goat tried with all his effort to fend
the dog off but it just made the dogs even more excited
that the goat was "playing" back. Everyone tried
to help this goat, but the dogs were simply too aggressive
and excited. The poor animal laid their moaning, while the
dogs basically "chowed down" on his legs and belly.
The owners arrived home just before the police arrived,
we left not long after…..
I
remember Launa Fredline telling me about a big fox that
would sneak into the goat shed and even with the mother
goats trying to fend him off, he would still manage to pinch
3-4 new kids each night during the kidding season……
I
have a friend's goat over today and she has horns. I was
giving her some worm medicine and as I tipped her head back,
oww, the tip of her horn poked into my leg. I will have
a little bruise there tomorrow, I had to giggle to myself
though, as it brought back old memories......
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