Disbudding problem....

[Limner]

We haven't been able to swing the $75 plus for a goat disbudder so we had to borrow one---so our kids are four weeks old and we disbudded them tonight. The does (all three) did just fine. The little freezer buckling had a HUGE horn base for his size, and we really had to work on the poor thing. He seemed to be alright afterward, ran across the yard and was only a little subdued....but he is slowly ozzing the clear plasma stuff you get after a burn, on the surface of one horn surface. Is this something we need to reheat the iron for, to cauterize it? Poor little guy, I hate to traumatize him anymore; he's only going to be around until this fall, and I'm about ready to say let 'em grow, if we didn't get the job completely done. :-?

[momof23goats]

pm sent to you.

[natty threads]

I'm sure momof23goats covered everything in the pm, but let me say that I have been taken to task locally for not having my guys done at three days.

Last years' ended up with scurs- nubby deformed horns- that we had to keep trimmed. Our doelings from earlier this year (straight Boer) were done at two weeks- the guy used a local and burned then scraped then burned then scraped.

Ish.

But their heads are clean.


We decided not to disbud my most recent three- they have a fair bit of Kiko and we're hoping for fancy horns.


Bless up,
Natty

[Bamidbar]

We had to just buy an iron. Maybe we should start a share program? Few need one all the time. I don't have a buck tip but I do have a doe one and a Pygmy tip. In the mail is an old fashioned non electric disbudder.

From a friend in WA: the factory burnt down that makes the topic disinfectant for disbudding. Local feed stores still have a few jars but the factory is not going to be rebuilt (from what I'm told).