De-Horned 2yr old Doe-WEEK 3 update

[Southern by choice]

Our vet told us to try and NOT do the dressings any more often they a week apart. Said changing too often allows for bacteria and increased chance of infection. We stuck with 1x week. I imagine we could have gone longer. The one thing you can do, which I agree with your vet, is to smell the top of his head. If you smell any odor get it off and change that dressing.
You may want to add some probiotics since he has had some potent anti-biotics and the stress also... just always a good idea IMO.
I'd watch him and if he seems more depressed than he may be missing the other goats. Sometimes keeping them separate can be more stressful, only you know your goat.
I know it is tough but you did the right thing. He will be sensitive for awhile I imagine. Millie loves us to scratch there now... it seems to "itch" a lot.

 

[Alibo]

New to goats and I have been getting all kinds of questions from family about this very topic. Thanks for the info and great pics (I am a visual learner). I am going to hang on to this thread so I can show the fam next time they ask about horns in general.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Any pics of millie all healed up?

 

[Southern by choice]

Sure, I will get some and put them up.

 

[misfitmorgan]

awesome....i didnt even know horn removal was an option after like 4months old. We had a goregous Alpine doe that we sold with her buddy because she was also sharpening her horns and beating up the other goats, she is the only one we ever had a problem with. No human aggression or anything but she would knock the other goats in the side and try to hook up into their guts with her horns. I'm sure i would have gotten her de-horned if i could not find her a home with just her buddy and her.

 

[cteague]

I know this is an older post. But u can dehorn them when they are older?? I was told it would kill them.

 

[Southern by choice]

Millie is alive and kicking! Or should I say kiddin'
Her 2 month old doe is 42lbs!

Usually it does NOT kill them but can be problematic at certain times of year. Best to do it in fall/winter where flystrike will not be an issue.

 

[cteague]

This is very interesting. Glad she is ok!

 

[Carla D]

Sorry this has taken so long to post...

First PLEASE let me say this REALLY was a very difficult decision and I hope those reading are able to separate the horn debate from this topic. I have no problems with any of our horned goats and this IMO was absolutely necessary for the safety of my family as well as all the other animals. Some may say if the goat is that mean put her in the freezer.
Well she is a very sweet goat with humans and with other animals she "likes". At 2 years of age and a great producer as well as a very loved goat I could not see that as an option until others had been exhausted. I couldn't see shortening her life by 10 years because of pain she might endure for a day or two. BTW she has needed no pain meds. She had one (shot) before we left the vets and that's it.

Looking back Millie really started this about a month after her first kidding. She was a bit of a queen and sometimes a bully but never tried to hurt anything before that.

After going through this with her a friend asked "if you could go back after now having done this would you make the same decision?". I can honestly say ABSOLUTELY. So far Millie hasn't skipped a beat. She is still a lovable brat, a little ornery, still bossy, and a pig to boot! She came home and was trying to get the lids off the feed bins for food. 1 hour after all this!
She acts as if though nothing has happened.
I would not do this for cosmetics reasons but for real necessity only. I will say I have heard many horror stories and IMO this was not a horror story. I have assisted in far many other surgeries/procedures that I thought were much worse.

I will not go into great detail but I did do the holding ( along with my farming partner "Straw", as some of you know him as) during the procedure. Not an easy task. She was sedated- but not to the point of being completely knocked out, just heavily sedated and she was given 4 injections in the brow for nerve block. The hold must be precise and a small bit of resistance is better than trying to hold a limp noodle 100+ lb goat with it's head perfectly still as the sawing is much more difficult. The angle of the tilt must be very precise. Until I prepped her (shaving and cleaning) I never noticed just how bulged out a goats eyes are from their head. WOW! So the tilt must be precise so as you saw you do not keep going with the momentum and cut into the eyes.

BTW- each horn took approximately 15-20 SECONDS to saw off. The cauterizing a few seconds each.
The bandaging took longer than the whole procedure.

First this is Millie hanging out Sunday..

This is the reason she was so dangerous- sharpening her horns...

Spoiler: graphic pics and description

I got as many pics as I could but was kinda busy...
This is after the first horn. The first horn was easier as you could help do the hold by holding the other horn. There were only a few drops of blood that kinda rose up and those bleeders were cauterized. The blood in the horn is there because it dripped into it. It is not filled at all.

Close up... because the color is so vivid it makes it look like the cavity is filled, it is not... like a cut that dripped down and coated the inside.

I am holding her in a rest position. We waited a few minutes before moving to the other horn. One down. See what I mean about those eyes!

Second one done. AGAIN there was no spewing blood. More like qwicking a dogs nail but not even that bad. Look at those eyes.

Another view

Just got home sedatives pretty much worn off. Millie did her I love you- that is where she presses her head up against you .

All bandaged- She looks like she has the Mumps. We are showing her her horns.

She walked over to to other goats. They were scared... mommy it's frankengoat... some were brave and stood their hair up then ran away. LOL

Inside of horns

Another view- they were only hollow up to 3" inside.

So far Millie has not missed a beat and she even opened the daggone gate and ran up to the house. She is Millie- no worse for wear. She even butted the turkey. Yep... Millie is fine.

NOW- having said that I really never want to have to do that again, BUT I would if the situation ever called for it. Odd how she started all this after she freshened. Wonder if some kind of hormonal issue?

I wanted to share this because being in with my goat and going through the whole process allows me to share with others that may be at a place of last resort and have heard how awful it is. Yes it is awful but so was getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Yes the sinus cavity is open but it is bandaged and it is cold- less possibility of fly strike.

I also kissed my girl between steps and told her I loved her and it would be over soon. I know I did the right thing for Millie.

Hope this helps others.

I will be posting in another thread about sneaky Millie....

Thank you. I do have little bit better idea now what goes on and why it’s important to do it when they are really young versus later in life.

 

[Carla D]

OK, yeah, William's "defects" (I love how medicine depersonalizes things, don't you?) were a lot bigger than Millie's. How big, you ask? This was a week after his surgery:
View attachment 2211

Thank you for this picture. I just had 8 almost seven week old bucklings surgically dehorned. I was very curious about what to expect with my little guys.