 Courtesy Sue Weaver This is our goat Milo after he was disbudded. See, the horns are gone! |
Q: I’m so excited! I’m getting two baby goats to bottle-raise as pets, but the breeder says I can’t pick them up until next week, after they’ve been disbudded. What is disbudding?
A: Disbudding is when the horn buds of a young kid are removed. This is usually done with a red-hot, electric disbudding iron so that the horns won’t grow. Some goats (often meat goats and pack goats) will get to keep their horns, while others, like dairy goats are disbudded. I am disbudded, for example, but my buddy, Uzzi, has horns.
There are two reasons why you might want to disbud a goat: for show and for safety. The American Dairy Goat Association prohibits horned goats from showing, and 4-H requires goats be dehorned or tipped. This is out of concern for humans’ safety, but there are also safety concerns for goats.
Us goats can get our horns caught in things like feeders and fences. A goat stuck in a fence can die of exposure on a hot, steamy summer day or super-cold winter night. It is also at the mercy of predators. Horned goats also might use their horns to bash and hook one another. Ow! This is especially dangerous with Don’t think you can avoid hot-iron disbudding by using caustic disbudding paste. It doesn’t work very well, and if it gets in the kid’s eyes, it can cause blindness. Dehorning your goats as adults is also a bad idea. To remove horns, they must be cut away at skull level, which opens a big hole directly into the goat’s sinus cavities. Adult dehorning is a bloody operation that must be done under anesthetic by a skilled veterinarian, and afterward, the holes must be carefully tended for months until they heal shut. If not done right, the goat could bleed to death. Mom takes my kids to Emily Dixon, my first human mom, for disbudding because Emily has disbudded hundreds of goats. If you think you’re ready to try it yourself, check out the article on page 24 of the November/December 2011 issue of Hobby Farms for details on how it’s done. About the Author: Ozark Jewels General Martok, who describes himself as “a really studly Nubian buck,” lives with his family and friends on a small farm in the Arkansas Ozarks. Read his blog, “Mondays with Martok,” for a peek at their daily animal activities. Have an animal-related question? Send it to Martok at hobbyfarms@bowtieinc.com, and include “Ask Martok” in the subject. 
