I absolutely HATE disbudding. However, it is a very necessary thing to have done. I have heard stories of goats getting caught in fencing and can't get away when a predator comes. My buck has horns and I have to feed him differently from the other goats because he can't get his head into the feeder. I had a couple does a few years ago that had horns and they were not mean but if they were poking around where we were working, gardening, etc., and then raised their head, they would sometimes accidentally scrape our legs on the way up. I clip my water buckets to the fence and one got her head stuck in the bucket once because of her horns (she yelled until I came down to get her out).

So, even though I don't like it, I disbud my goats. There usually is no blood. I go at a slow enough pace that my iron stays red hot...literally! The following is what I do, this is not a fool-proof method with no risks to the goat. There are risks that they could have brain swelling, although that is rare. You have to be careful! This is just what I do with my goats, this information is not meant as instructional material. You should research disbudding and preferably have someone teach you in person how to do it before attempting it yourself.

I feel for the horn buds to make sure they are ready to be disbudded (and make sure they have horn buds and aren't naturally polled, which would be a bad thing if I tried to disbud a polled goat!). I do my mini-Saanens and Saanens about a week old. I do the Nigerian Dwarfs about two weeks old. HOWEVER, a buck's horns grow FAST so make sure you get it early enough...it depends on the goat. I do not try to do all of them on the same day because I want my iron to stay hot and I think it cools a little each contact with the head. WITH A COLD IRON (not plugged in) I sometimes make sure the iron will fit all the way around the horn bud. I did this recently to make sure I would be able to do a proper job. I was planning on disbudding on one night but another goat was kidding and having some trouble so I had to skip that night. Then, the very next night we had a bad storm and were out of power for 8 hours so I had to skip that night, too. The third night, I made sure the iron would fit because sometimes their horns grow SOOOO fast.

First, I shave the hair around the horn bud, apply the heated iron for five seconds on one side with a rotating motion. I then let the iron heat back up and do the other side. I let the iron heat back up and repeat each side. This burns through the skin to the skull and cauterizes the blood vessels. This will prevent the horn buds from growing. I DO NOT remove the burned horn buds. I spray them and then leave them on to fall off on their own. When I am done, the skin around the area is cauterized and there is a DRY copper ring around the bud. It smells horrible. The goats yell. However, they yell as soon as you hold them down anyway, you don't even need to be doing anything to them!



This is a photo of before we start.



First you need to shave the hair around the horn buds



This is my disbudding gun. When it heats up "cherry red" and can burn a ring on a piece of wood, then you're ready to go. I like to let it heat up about 15 minutes.



My husband lays the baby goat down, all folded up, straddles him or her and then holds the head down over a folded towel. We are CAREFUL because if we hold down too hard it could cut off the air supply.



The first side has had the first burn. Notice that as soon as we are done with the burn the goat is relaxed again and looking around. She is not freaking out or even trying to get away. We let go of her for a rest/break between burns and she just stayed laying there, looking around. She didn't try to get up.



This is a close up of the first one done. Notice you can see the skull. I only burn for about five seconds with rotating pressure. You have to go all the way through to cauterize the blood vessels supplying blood to the horn buds so they will die and slough off.



Photo showing both of them done



Another photo after all is done. Again, she is relaxed.



Final close-up photo of the horn buds. After they're done, we spray with Furall. The buds are very dry and not causing the baby any pain. As soon as we're done, we put her back in with mama and she head-butted the udder to nurse for a few moments and then ran off to play with the other kids, which is typical. Soon after disbudding, they sometimes even head butt each other when they're playing.

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