disbudding *PICS*

[that's*satyrical]

I've read & read & read on how to do it but still a little scared to take the plunge tonight. Any helpful tips? Got my Rhinehart x30 the recommended disbudder, got my blue kote for after the deed & also some bactine pain relieving spray. I shaved all their little heads a few minutes ago & they screamed like they were dying lol. I actually had to put the boy in the disbudding box because he was putting up such a fuss just getting shaved! Silly baby goats. I've read about mom rejecting after disbudding due to smell & I thought maybe if I put some VetRx on her nose before I do it she won't notice the smell.

 

[daisychick]

I am nervous about doing it to my babies and I don't even know if my girls are expecting babies yet. I want to be able to do it myself but I am so worried I won't do it right. I wish you all the luck in the world and I hope it goes good. You will have to report on how it is after you do it. I am sure the first few times are nerve wracking and then it gets easier. I wish I had a goat mentor here to help me the first few times.

 

[Chirpy]

I did my first disbudding last year. After my first one, I literally cried. I called my 'mentor' Nigi breeder and cried to him. He was very kind and understanding. I ended up taking that little boy to my mentor a few weeks later to fix what I had messed up (it was bad - I really botched it!!). After watching him fix it (as much as was possible)... and having him (again) talk me through it while showing me... I felt completely better. He holds them himself and does it... I still need someone to help me by holding the baby.

I said all that to say: my problem was that I was so afraid that I would burn through to the brain that I didn't get a good, solid copper ring. I didn't press hard enough with the iron. That was worse then doing the job right the first time (the first time can take two or three burns to get the solid ring). Part of the reason that I screwed up the first one was that the person holding the kids for me (my Nigis are too small to fit into my disbudding box) was afraid to HOLD the baby still so I was having a very hard time actually getting the iron solid on the head. After my mentor showed me again how to do it right I had my husband hold the rest of my babies (or used the box on the larger breed babies) and I DID IT! It really wasn't hard once I got over my own fear of starting their heads on fire and when I had someone who could securely hold the baby still.

The last couple of kids I disbudded last year did not get scurs... the first couple did. You learn best by doing it yourself. (At least I do)

I am actually looking forward to disbudding this year because I feel comfortable doing it and am no longer afraid... I know how 'hard' I have to press against the skull and what the copper ring needs to look like now. It just takes practice and experience. Even my very experienced goat friends have the occasional scur (including our vet who is really good with the disbudding iron) so I know that I'll get better every year.

You'll do great... just relax and wear heavy leather gloves.

 

[that's*satyrical]

Well thank you for that vote of confidence from you both it does make me feel quite a bit better to know I'm not the only one that stresses over this. I'm going to wait for my husband to come home tonight & we will attempt to disbud baby boy since boys need to be done earlier. In a couple days we'll try the girls assuming all goes well.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

We too just started last year - first time we took the kids we had to a couple we knew with goats and paid them to do it...husband watched and took real good notes and I kinda watched and thought "Nope...not doing it..."

Next thing I know, our iron shows up on the UPS truck because DH was DETERMINED that "Yes we can" was the only answer....plus we had 2 more does due to kid and to him it only made sense to start doing this ourselves...

I'm in charge of pre-burn shave, counting as he burns, and blowing on their little head between burns...also, I need to watch for the copper ring as he can't see colors so well. He can hold them in one arm and burn with the other and has no problems. I think at this point I could MAYBE IN A PINCH IF I HAD TO do it myself alone without him...but for me it helps to have him

We were dam-raising kids last year and didn't have ANY problems with rejection...those mamas were just too happy to get their kids back! We did end up with a blue udder on each one from the kids rubbing the blukote off as they nursed though Pretty funny looking!

For us, it's now as common as "let's disbud her before dinner" and "call me when you make the last turn home and I'll heat the iron up!"

YOU CAN DO IT!!! I have faith

 

[Chickenfever]

We also paid someone to do the first disbudding to get a good idea of how it's done and then tried it ourselves. I agree with Chirpy, you're much more likely to not burn enough than to burn too much. We were so worried about hurting our first little goat that we didn't burn enough/get a good copper ring and she grew scurs within a few weeks. After that we kind of learned how much/how long and it's really not that big of a deal anymore. (But still not my favorite job )

I would recommend, and this is what we learned from watching it done the first time BUT didn't do on our first little goat, is that after you get the copper ring take the iron and use the flat side part of the iron to burn the top of the bud then pinch with your finger, or scrape with the iron, and take off the skin covering the bud. Once that is removed then take the iron again and make an X over the top of the bud. Healing seems much faster doing this, no bud to turn yucky and fall off, and scurs less likely.

You can do it!

 

[Chirpy]

I would recommend, and this is what we learned from watching it done the first time BUT didn't do on our first little goat, is that after you get the copper ring take the iron and use the flat side part of the iron to burn the top of the bud then pinch with your finger, or scrape with the iron, and take off the skin covering the bud. Once that is removed then take the iron again and make an X over the top of the bud. Healing seems much faster doing this, no bud to turn yucky and fall off, and scurs less likely.

I completely agree.. I totally forgot to add that part. Also, if there is any bleeding, take the side of the iron and gently touch that spot - it should stop the bleeding. My mentor says that if there is bleeding you are more likely to have scurs... anyone else know if that's true?

I also watched someone else do the burning for two years before I did my own.

 

[that's*satyrical]

Well we did it. We just did all 3 of them to get it over with since the first one wasn't that bad. They did really well with it, didn't even act like it hurt. They all have nice copper rings. They made more noise & acted more upset when I shaved them before hand. I will post a pic later.

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

Well we did it. We just did all 3 of them to get it over with since the first one wasn't that bad. They did really well with it, didn't even act like it hurt. They all have nice copper rings. They made more noise & acted more upset when I shaved them before hand. I will post a pic later.

AWESOME JOB! I would never do that. I'd be to scared.

 

[Chirpy]

Way to go!