Dehorning at two months old.

shawn MN

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Has anybody used castrating rings/bands to dehorn their goats before? I heard it can work. Any thoughts on this? The little buck, soon to be a little wether, is two months old.
 

goatboy1973

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I have used this technique on a Nube/ Boer cross doe whose horns were a foot long and went straight up in the air and were sharp. She used her horns on everything and anything be it human or goat. She was a great doe and was a very easy keeper. She was 2 yrs old at the time of her dehorning and it worked like a charm 1st time and took about 3 weeks from start to finish. You must give the goat a tetanus vaccination prior to banding and also you only use this technique in winter when there's no flies. The bands go on at the base of the horns where the horn meets the skin.
 

alsea1

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I may have to try this on my boer goat. She does not use them on people but she does try to hook the slow moving goat in her path. A bit of a witchy queen.
 

goatboy1973

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I may have to try this on my boer goat. She does not use them on people but she does try to hook the slow moving goat in her path. A bit of a witchy queen.
I do need to add that I cut a regular size roll of duct tape in half so that there is half of the width. I used the duct tape strips to help secure the bands. I added several layers of the duct tape just above the bands to create a barrier so the bands won't travel north. After about 2 weeks of the bands being on correctly, the horns should start to fall to either side. DO NOT "help" them along! Let them fall off by themselves.
 

goatboy1973

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The big issue with pulling the horns is the goat bleeding excessively. There are arteries in the horns of a goat and if the goat's horns are allowed to just fall off, the natural healing mechanisms have a chance to acclimate and adjust i.e. vasoconstriction and platelets migrating to the area of bleeding to help clot, basically the inflammation process which is part of the entire healing thing. If the body has the chance to gradually adjust, all will be good. Good luck!
 
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