DISBUDDING AND DEHORNING GOATS

Disbudding a goat can be a dangerous . . . even life-threatening . . . medical procedure. The producer uses a very hot iron to burn the horn buds off the head of a kid that is often not more than a week old. The kid's brain can be permanently damaged by misuse of the disbudding iron. The possibility of infection is great. Tetatnus and even death may occur.

There are only two valid reasons to disbud a goat, one of which is to adapt the goat's head to fit into a milk stanchion. Horned goats present a significant problem in a milking line.

The only other good reason for disbudding is when goats are housed in barns in very cold climates during much of the year. Disbudding reduces the chance of injury in such confined situations.

It is this author's opinion that every other reason given for disbudding goats is neither valid reasoning nor sound logic, including disbudding done for purposes of showing goats in fairs and other events.

Adults should learn how to handle goats in a manner that puts them less at risk of getting hurt by horns. Children who are working with or living around livestock should be taught to respect the horns and learn to stay out of their way. This can be learned. If humans, both adults and kids, cannot do this, they should not be raising goats. To so drastically and dangerously modify an animal's body solely to suit one's own personal desires is unconscionable.

Horns serve legitimate purposes for the goat. Since goats are sprinters rather than long-distance runners, horns provide one of the few natural defenses against predators that this species has available to it. Meat goats, particularly those out on pasture, need every advantage that they can get in order to survive. Horns also serve as cooling mechanisms, functioning much like an automobile radiator on a hot day.

De-horning goats is just plain cruel. De-horning describes the process of cutting off horns that have already grown to significant size. Horns have an extensive blood supply running through them. Below the horns, in the skull, are large sinus cavities. Removing horns down to their base exposes the inside of the goat's head to serious infection. The very best one can hope for in such a procedure is that the goat is going to have a king-sized headache for many hours. When goats are dehorned, death from shock or infection is a definite possibility.

Treat your goats humanely. Do not disbud unless one of the two circumstances mentioned above exists. If you participate in shows, work towards removing the disbudding/de-horning rules that are so abusive of goats. Do the right thing for your goats. Do not disbud or de-horn.

By Suzanne Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch.
These articles have previously been published in Goat Rancher Magazine.
http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com
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