Disbudding

Disbudding is one of those unpleasant, but necessary, goat chores. A very hot iron much like a soldering iron is pressed against the horn base for approximately eight seconds. The horn cap comes off, and then you burn again for a few more seconds.

The first time we disbudded a kid, we were more traumatized than the kid. Today, we disbudded three without too much stress.

One of the things we've learned is that the disbudding box, a kid size box with a lid and a hole for the kid's head to stick out is much more stressful to the kid than being held by one of their human friends. Our goat kids are used to being held and cuddled, so being restrained in someone's arms isn't frightening to them. Being stuck in a box makes them scream.

We had been shaving the hair around the base of the horn, but now we know that's not necessary, either. If you know where the horn bud is, the hair isn't in the way after the first second of burning. You're going to stink after it's over anyway from the burned skin and horn tissue, so a bit of extra burned hair stink is immaterial.

After the procedure, the burned area is sprayed with Furox or another antibiotic cooling spray. Normally, this relieves the kid's pain, and he will be acting normally and looking for mom within moments. The comfort of mom's presence and a few sucks of milk are all it takes for them to forget the procedure.

The next step is for the humans to take a shower. The stink of burned goat hair and skin is particularly pungent. :-(