Band Dehorning

[valley]

The squeeze chute worked extremely well! The buck was not overly uncomfortable and ate between procedures.

 

[valley]

We were able to work with some ease.

 

[valley]

We had everything ready so it went smoothly.

 

[valley]

These pictures are large so one to a post as we have dial up.

 

[valley]

We let him rest between moves. Here we apply betadine.

 

[scootr2d]

We acquired a Rescue a few years back , an older gal who came with horns , Since the rest of our Herd did not have horns We considered Banding a few years back. Given her age and the size of her horns our Large animal vet talked us out of it.

Personally , it's worked out Great. She protects the rest of the Herd , maintains the pecking order and has become the matriarch. For us , Keeping the horns on Phoebe worked out best for our situation.
She is center of group seen.

Also attached is our latest Fella Duncan (Cashmere/Pygmy cross).
He enjoys helping me put the hay in the Loft.

 

[valley]

Nice place! I like your barn.

Here he is with bands in place. We couldn't keep him with these horns, little by little he would knock the barn down and there is the danger to the girls into the bargan.

 

[scootr2d]

very understandable, I commend you for trying to find a compromising solution.
I wish you and the "patient" much success in the outcome. Please keep us posted on progress. I would be very much interested in the outcome as I never know what next little critter ummm.....follows Sherry home and the information would be a great reference later down the road.

BY the way , do you have an approx time frame on how long you think this banding process should take given the size and age/ potential density of the horn?. Also looking at the pic (and not having done this procedure before) a laymen question. Shouldn't the bands be further down the horn almost touching the head?
I would think that high up will leave potential for scurs and the holes not closing up correctly.

Also when researching previously I can upon this

Band close to skull: The closer to the skull the band was seated on the horn, the more rapidly the dehorning occurred. The horn detached at the skull instead of leaving a scur of horn. I tried notching the horn base with a hand saw to hold the bands in place. It proved too difficult to saw and needless to say, the goats let us know that it hurt. I have better success using a horse hoof knife, and slicing a small V shaped notch in the sides of the horn at the junction between horn and skin. The best solution is to apply cotton adhesive tape to the horn base and then apply the band over top, so the band is held in place by the adhesive. As well, cotton tape or duct tape over top the bands may work in holding the bands in place, by preventing the goats from rolling them off.

Clip the area: Use electric clippers to shave the front of the horn base. This allows the rubber band to grip into the skin at the horn base for a firm hold. Banding over top long hair often allows the band to roll or slide up along the hair.

http://www.nobull.net/bander/dehorningGoats.htm

 

[beenthere]

Nice job, and well done. He looks just a bit bewildered in the last pic. Like "so what was the big fuss all about?"

Nice use of pallets to make the squeeze chute too.

Now on to the next job.

 

[valley]

Thanks, It should take 4 to 6 weeks. I hope we have them down far enough so it won't have to be done again. It seemed when doing the job this is where they should be, we shall see.