How old is to old to disbud

[mdavenport121]

I've got a 3 month old doe that is starting to look pretty nice. My daughter wants to show goats, this one is not registered but she can show at the local and county shows. It will give me a good idea if we want to show at the bigger shows in a couple of years. My question is it to late to disbud this doe?

 

[marliah]

I was told it had to be done before they were a week old.

 

[Chirpy]

It's really only too old when you can no longer get the disbudder around the horn... that is usually by the time they are a month or so old. But, I had a Nigerian buckling last year that we had to re-disbud and he was about 2 1/2 months old. I believe the breeder used a calf disbudder as it had a much wider circumference and he was able to get it around the horns... he had tried the regular goat tip on the Rhinehart and it wouldn't work.

 

[SDBoerGoats]

On Boer goats it really needs to be done 7 to 10 days old at least. . I had some done yesterday and since I had 3 does due within a few weeks of each other, I waited on the first doeling to get done with the rest of them. And I wish I hadn't. She was born May 1, the middle one was born May 15 and the last twins were born May 21st. At almost one month old, her horns were getting big, and I hated it.
I was going to dehorn a wether for my grand daughter to use as a market wether and he was 4 months old, and was cautioned by everyone it would be a painful process and lots of complications. I sold him to some one for a weed eater instead of going that route.
I won't go past the week to 10 day point again.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I did my nigerian babies at about 3 1/2 weeks, just as they broke through the skin. This was my first time and I kept a close eye on them because I was afraid I didn't do enough. I did 5 seconds on each horn bud 2x on each baby (so a total of 10 seconds for each bud). I do have a pretty steady hand and a strong follow through so I was ok to finish what I started. I have to admit that 10 minutes after I did the first disbuddings I cried. It was so stressful for me! The babies were hopping and skipping around just minutes after both times so they aren't as traumatized as I am! The scabs were coming off this last week and a half or so, but it looked like I may not have gotten them well enough so I decided I would rather do them one more time, than risk some big scurs. Granted, if I didn't get it right this time....I am just going to live with the consequences. I think the blood vessels grow pretty big the older they get so that might be something to keep in mind too. Good luck!

 

[southernstardowns]

It is only too late to disbud when you can no longer fit the cutters around the horns. However, the older that they get, the harder and riskier the procedure is. When I have waited too long in the past, I keep my newly disbudded goats in the barn for a week so I can keep flies off of them and keep a close eye on them.