In vet school we were required to participate in the large animal field service as a requirement for graduation. Lots of it was bumping around at full-tilt over rural Pennsylvania hills and dales in a huge old Chevy crusted in compartments and hatches for our equipment’s safekeeping.
Were it not for the cell phones and artificial insemination discussions that accompanied our trips, you might call it a throwback to a James Herirot-style of medicine—at least that’s the general gist of farm calls: An abscessed hoof here, a mastitis outbreak there, a round of blood draws at the next…
I think it was required for only two weeks out of four years but I liked it so well I signed up for another round in my senior year—too bad they fit me in during what would have been my two-week break in Miami…in February.
Though I’m not sure I’ll ever get over the feeling of twenty-degree wind whipping into me and the shock and dismay that accompanies a view of a three-sided barn in winter (where I’d be spending the next four hours inexplicably wishing for more pregnancy checks)…it was worth it.
I learned the strangest things in field service. How to adjust your truck’s visor so you don’t get decapitated in a automobile accident. How to keep warm immersed in the backside of a cow. How to get blood from sheep…the first time, every time. How to keep your socks dry when the mud splashes up to your thighs. And, finally reaching the point of this post, how to disbud and dehorn ruminants.
Disbudding: This procedure involves the removal or ablation of the corium, the horn-producing tissue adjacent to the skin of a horned ruminant. Since the horns begin as mere buds, the procedure to stop their growth is called “disbudding.” This is usually done before then weeks of age in most ruminants, though it can be done as early as ten days after birth.
Hot-iron disbudding is the most common, along with “scooping” out the corium surgically, but cautery is becoming more popular since it may be associated with less pain and stress. Injecting chemicals and applying caustic compounds topically are also employed but these methods are considered more painful due to the lingering action of the materials.
These methods have all been evaluated for their pain-causing potential by testing calves’ stress hormone levels and by assessing their visible evidence of pain: head-shaking, ear and tail twitching, reduced weight gain in the days after the procedure, etc.
Earlier disbudding is associated with less pain. Cautery or hot-iron disbudding is associated with less pain. The implementation of local anesthetics, including nerve blocks, is associated with less pain. The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other longer-lasting pain relievers have also been found to measurably reduce pain and discomfort. But these latter niceties are seldom employed due to cost and regulatory concerns (few drugs are approved by the FDA for these animals).
Dehorning is a much more drastic procedure where the existing horn is removed. Because the horn begins to grow with a sinus cavity within, infections and severe bleeding commonly result—not to mention the pain of this orthopedic procedure. In my opinion there is never a good indication for dehorning, but it’s still practiced every day in the US.
According to the AVMA’s research on this subject (from a fairly comprehensive article on animal welfare and disbudding/dehorning),
“Disbudding and dehorning of cattle in the United States is not currently regulated. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association recommends that disbudding be performed within the first week of life.
In the United Kingdom, disbudding with a hot iron is preferred to dehorning and it is advised that this should be performed before cattle reach the age of 2 months. Application of caustic paste is acceptable in cattle up to 7 days old, but anesthesia is required if cattle are dehorned after this period.
Australian and New Zealand authorities recommend disbudding at the youngest age possible, and chemical dehorning is not deemed to be acceptable unless it is performed within the first few days after birth. In Australia, dehorning without local anesthesia or analgesia is restricted to animals less than 6 months old. The New Zealand Code of Welfare for Painful Husbandry Procedures mandates a 9-month age limit for dehorning without attention to pain relief.
The 1992 Animal Rights Law in Sweden requires that dehorning via cautery be performed under anesthesia/sedation. In Denmark, calves up to 4 weeks old can be dehorned without application of a local anesthetic.”
***
I raise this topic for two reasons: 1) because I have to decide whether my goatlings, the offspring of my soon-to-be-pregnant doe, will be disbudded or not this spring, and 2) because last spring, the AVMA took what I perceive to be a weak stance against disbudding and dehorning.
At this point you might wonder why anyone would subject an animal to such an unnatural cruelty. Aren’t they meant to have horns for a reason?
Yes, they’re meant to have horns and here’s the reason: Horns are very useful for fending off predators and for displays of dominance between conspecifics. In animal agriculture, however, horns are problematic. They can injure one another, injure humans and/or injure your dogs (a big deal in my case, which is why my dogs are always kept on the safe side of a fence):

Poppy, my original doe, has horns—hefty ones my older Frenchie, Sophie’s borne the brunt of on one occasion. And Tulip, my Nubian doe to be bred imminently, has been disbudded. She, too, has suffered Poppy’s wrath a couple of times during breeding season (they get a little aggressive while in season).
Disbudding is universally accepted in the goat world as a formality all domesticated goats in the US endure. I know of no goat breeders who fail to disbud very early on in their goatling’s lives.
But is it required? If I keep a small herd of goats who get along well, should I disbud? Are my close calls (the result of Poppy’s business end) enough to teach me the lesson other goat breeders know well?
I’m not yet sold, though, I’m too big a chicken to want to subject my own creatures to the skills I picked up back in field service. One thing I do I know, however, is that I’ll be using nerve blocks and ketoprofen (a more expensive, non-approved NSAID which supposedly has better pain-relieving qualities than others) if I do elect to disbud my babes.
What would you do?
Add Comment34 Comments
Congratulations, Dr. khuly, on taking the "breeder" plunge, having birthing to look forward to and a milker too.
I would do the disbudding as you described, and then bawl like a baby after, if they cry.
I don't see much choice because: a.) an added grown goat may change the dynamics b.) you may be placing this goat within another herd c.) if placed as a pet with a family/children/other pets, it will be the conservative & responsible safety factor
I look forward to the shared stories of Tulip!
B. Albright/NH
Pocket's Story from NH December 8th, 2008 12:29:46 PM
Hmmm...if it were me I would leave the horns. It's too close to tail docking, ear cropping, and declawing for my taste. But I know zip about farm animals so...
Kristie December 8th, 2008 01:00:04 PM
I'm firmly on the disbudding side and I wish everyone would do it, because it seems like I inevitably only have to handle NASTY goats with a taste for human flesh with horns. The people who disbud their babies also seem to handle them more and teach them NOT to freak out about humans detangling them from fences, trimming their hooves, or loading them into trailers.
If I'm buying dairy stock? I want them dehorned because I'm going to be handling them a lot for hopefully years. (Ditto with fiber goats, although I haven't taken the plunge yet- hopefully adding some dairy babies in the spring though.) If I'm buying meat goats, I'm a little more willing to put up with it as I'm not going to have them around so long, but I'd still prefer them dehorned, especially as I *don't* handle meat babies more than necessary. (It just seems WRONG to make a pet out of something and then eat it.)
Cait December 8th, 2008 01:27:22 PM
Cait: I just wanted to make sure you meant "disbudded" rather than "dehorned." The latter always implies to me (and denotes in a welfare sense) that they've been removed after puberty. you're not advocating that, right? Or if you are, why?
Dr. Patty Khuly December 8th, 2008 01:36:10 PM
I have ~15 years of goat farming experience - - most of that with meat breeds, pygmies, and dairy crosses. Personally, I do not debud or dehorn my goats, and I was pleased to hear that my local 4-H groups no longer required kids to be dehorned for shows. I have observed minimal issues due to horns. It has generally been that they have stuck their head where it shouldn't be, and I had to help them get it out. On the two occasions that I was challenged by my 350# buck, I found the horns came in handy to restrain him. Without them I would've had difficulty handling him on my own. That said, my LaManchas and naturally polled pygmy does are at a distinct disadvantage at feeding time with 3 agressive Kikos, but they seem to find their niche even with 40 - 60 head in the barn. Ultimately your decision should be balanced by your management practices, breeds, and personal choice.
pignacious December 8th, 2008 01:40:39 PM
pignacious: Thank you for your perspective! Why is it tht the Nubian folks seem so pro-disbudding? Maybe it's just my area--and Pennsylvania back in the late nineties.
On the polled goats (born without horns for those of you who don't know this term): Why don't we selectively breed for this trait? I know catle people have a thing about polled cattle--they have the impression that they're less thrifty or not well muscled (which doesn't necessarily make sense). Do the goat people have similar reservations about polled breeds? Do they protect their breeds from polling for historical reasons as the dog people do?
I know these are lots of questions but I'm really interested...
Dr. Patty Khuly December 8th, 2008 01:47:18 PM
I should also mention that Poppy is a stray goat. She was tied with a thin line to a boat trailer. When they found her she was being hounded by large dogs. She's always been extremely skittish and only cares for the company of a couple of humans and her beloved Tulip, of course. Considering her personality, she's perhaps not the best example of why goats should keep their horns but she's the only one I've got.
Dr. Patty Khuly December 8th, 2008 01:50:08 PM
I've kept a few goats in the past, and never quite managed to resolve the horn problem. Although I have never had problems disbudding calves using lidocaine, the thing with goats is that they have two nerve sources, and some anecdotes I'd heard about using nerve blocks scared me off (small toxicity margin). I have heard of small ruminant practitioners doing general anesthesia using various protocols that include combinations of ketamine, xylazine and tolazoline or yohimbine, but I was never confident enough to do general anesthesia either (general anesthesia wimp = me). (I wonder if Dormitor/Antisedan has been tried; should research that.) I admit I have disbudded kids in the past without anesthesia and HATED it, possibly even more than the kids themselves. I have also observed experienced breeders do it without anesthesia and the trauma passed very quickly. In general, even as a large animal vet I found it to be the type of job best left to a small ruminant specialist, or an experienced tech or breeder - i.e. someone who does the job often enough to get the hang of it. You can burn the buds for too long, or (more commonly) not long enough. If you don't do the procedure often enough, you might err on the side of caution and have some bizarroid half-horns grow - they're called "scurs". (That can happen when you disbud too late as well.) For me, the best outcome was when the does were polled (congenitally hornless) or mated with a polled buck, and the kids turned out to be polled as well. :-) One thing to consider: the breed of goat will determine the moment you need to disbud. In some breeds, it has to be done within a few days, and with others you can wait a week or so.
brebis noire December 8th, 2008 02:11:49 PM
I think the issue with polled goats is that if you breed two polled goats together, the chances of having an intersex kid increase.
brebis noire December 8th, 2008 02:14:24 PM
Maybe it's just because I'm out here in the Pacific Northwest, but very few of the hobby farms raising goats around here do any sort of disbudding or dehorning. It's kind of odd to me when I see hornless animals. The horns make great handles to get ahold of them by and I am under the impression that they also help with thermoregulation during our very hot, dry summers. I've never had any more problems handling horned animals over dehorned one. I think this is especially signifigant given that Boer goats (meat animals) are usually handled far less than the more commonly disbudded dair goats and are still managable. One thing I would consider is that keeping horned and dehorned animals together can definately be a problem due to their natural interactions, but since you've already got one of each, you're already in the worst of it.
Lindabcs December 8th, 2008 03:40:54 PM
Homozygous polled does are sterile. Heterozygous goats are not. It is actually impossible to breed for the polled trait across an entire population. You have to have the gene for horns in there.
H. Houlahan December 8th, 2008 03:44:57 PM
I think the issue with polled goats is that if you breed two polled goats together, the chances of having an intersex kid increase. mohsin http://makaseb.net
mohsin December 8th, 2008 04:12:59 PM
I think pignacious makes a strong case. Dairy and beef cows, on the other, can and do damage udders of others much more drastically when wearing horns. Horns on beef and dairy do not present the convenient handle they might be on goats and sheep. Rather, they tend to hang up in all sorts of inconvenient places. Disengaging from 2000 lb of frantic cow/bull/steer becomes quite problematic when the head is armed.
eli December 8th, 2008 04:38:40 PM
A dear friend of mine is a goat breeder (currently on a smallish scale, although rapidly increasing due to the rising popularity in Canada of goatmilk-based products) and ALL of her goats are horn-inclusive.
I inquired to her as to why, and she stated two reasons -
1) The Natural - similar to docking and cropping in dogs, these animals are meant to have horns. Who knows what kind of ongoing issues a goat lacking horns suffers from? What if it's like removing a cat's whiskers? Honestly, how many goat behavioural studies have been performed... we don't really know whether this procedure is affecting them either negatively or positively at this point, so she feels that because the horns have not yet caused a problem, she sides with "mother nature knows best."
2) The Practical - as noted above, an angry goat can be as difficult to deal with as an ornery pig (farm people will know what I'm talking about... lol). Goat horns provide natural handles with which to safely restrain a goat that may be intent on causing you harm. Once you've got it by the horns, provided your grip is good, you should be able to get out of harms way without too much trouble. She's also had issues with animals in season getting a bit rutty and bucking hard objects, a kind of redirected aggression to show off to the other males. Unfortunately, instead of dented barn walls and splintered fence poles, it ends in wounded goat heads and other injuries.
I should mention that while I agree with her on all accounts (although admittedly my goat experience is limited to a few individuals) I did grow up on a dairy farm and fully support the debudding of cows. The shape and size of the cow horn vs. the goat horn makes debudding almost a necessity except in the most natural of settings (and, of course, with a farm owner willing to accept the inevitable injuries that will transpire). Personally, in this case I see the harm of leaving the horns intact outweighing potential negatives of removing them soon after birth, under humane conditions.
I have also seen several cows dehorned. They were dairy cows who came from a farm that "went under" and its livestock was sold off. The farmer had been cutting corners for some time, and these cows were left in their natural state. The owner of the farm I was working on saved several of the cows (who were underweight and neglected, but otherwise sturdy) but for obvious reasons could not put them in his pasture with the rest of the herd. This is an old-school dairy farm where the cows are only in the barn for milking, if they choose to be, or during the coldest winter months when there's no reason for them to be in the pasture - and even then they are not stalled, they are kept in a huge indoor arena when not in service. To put these horned cows in with the others would have been begging for injuries to the others.
And so, they were dehorned. To my knowledge, no pain medication was used. It was horrific to watch, and I only managed to stomach one of them before I had to leave the barn to empty my stomach. The new cows were quite lethargic for about a week, although they ate well and seemed otherwise to be in good condition. Their wounds were tended to daily - with what, I don't know. After a week, they seemed back to normal.
So there again - what is the right answer? Should we have let them go to slaughter? Or perhaps to a milking operation that would have kept them penned up for their inevitably short lives? The cows on our farm lived relatively long, very healthy, what I would assume were happy lives for dairy cows in the 80s - and continue to this very day. Does the end result - the closest thing to a cow sanctuary in all of Ontario - justify the means - the torturous removal of a grown appendage?
To this day, I really can't answer that question... but I do know that if I had to make the decision, I would do it again - barring a third option.
However, Dr. K - I'm with the "cons" crowd - let the wee goats keep their horns - unless you plan on selling them to other breeders, in which case I suppose you have a whole new set of considerations to mull over...
Kim December 8th, 2008 04:57:43 PM
Debud'em. What if you need to give them up for some reason down the road? It would be a lot harder to find them a nice home on a farm if they have horns and all the others don't, right?
C December 8th, 2008 05:24:54 PM
Please disbud your kids! I had Alpine dairy goats for 12 years, and made the mistake of leaving 4 wethers with horns one year because they were going in the freezer - never again! They got stuck in every type of fence we tried, and couldn't be left with the children who normally milked and "goat sat" if we had to be away for a few days because they were just the right height at 4-5 months old to slam those spike horns into the childrens' faces. Also, I know of at least two horned goats in our area who got a horn caught, panicked, broke the horn trying to get loose, and bled or nearly bled to death as a result.
M Shanley December 8th, 2008 07:08:28 PM
In the case of beef cattle, my dad (may he rest in peace) was a proponent of the black Angus (hornless) bull, as polled is dominant in cattle. If the calf is born without horns, no de-horning is necessary.
Miss Kitty's Mom December 8th, 2008 08:33:46 PM
I have raised goats all my life on a small scale. First as a child in 4H and then on my hobby farm. I have always disbudded (actually found someone else to do it) my kids. I have wavered a few time but went ahead and did it. I have to disagree with the comment from the Pacific Northwest because that is where I'm from and all the people I know with small goat farms disbud. Mainly for safety reasons. If a child is handling the goat and it suddenly moves it's head up...as goats tend to do...the child is in great danger of losing an eye. It isn't very probable that on a small hobby farm you will have a nasty goat that you need to use it's horns for control. Besides when done right they get over it very quickly and go on to lead a happy peaceful life. Especially since you have the ability to use a nerve blocker. I had the same feelings about circumcising my son. It was horrible but he got over it and when I told him I debated whether or not to do it he said he is sure glad I did. That's my 2 cents.
Wendy aka goatgirl December 8th, 2008 11:23:32 PM
Dr K - yeah, I meant disbudded. Someday, I'll learn not type post comments prior to coffee..... The fence sticking issue is also a huge one.
Cait December 9th, 2008 12:20:00 AM
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للبنات فقط December 9th, 2008 06:55:37 AM
Here is a link from the UK on disbudding: http://www.liv.ac.uk/farm/species/goats.htm Interesting: disbudding is considered by the RCVS to be a "mutiliation" and is supposed to be only carried out by vet surgeons under general anesthesia with nerve blocks. (That's a great way to make sure it's not done often - if that recommendation is "enforced"...) They make mention of something I forgot: the recommendation of vaccinating against tetanus (they should be vaccinated anyways).
brebis noire December 9th, 2008 08:00:33 AM
I've "inherited" goats with horns which certainly has it's plusses and minuses - I like them for restraint but they are dangerous for people and for the goats who inevitably get caught somewhere. I elected to disbud my kids last year - care of Telazol sedation and NSAIDS afterward. The procedure went well and I can't say anyone was any worse for the wear. I'll follow the same procedure this spring. Good luck and happy kidding!
ralphsmydog December 9th, 2008 08:48:35 AM
Interesting, all these pros and cons. Because I live in the 'burbs and not a rural area, I'm strongly siding towards disbudding. The list of kids that treat my house as the local petting zoo is growing. I do, however, worry about the neighborhood dogs that show a strong predatory interest in my goats. My fences are pretty secure, though. Good thing I don't have to make the call yet. I'll keep thinking...
Dr. Patty Khuly December 9th, 2008 09:02:39 AM
I did not debud my goats. There are too many ways to cut out any problems because of the horns to do something like that. The only time I had a problem was with one little goat and what I did with her was take apiece of PVC pipe and duct taped it to her horns - no more problem. I helped a friend debud some of hers...once. I'll never do it again. Aren't they the sweetest pets!
Jan December 9th, 2008 09:35:42 PM
I really loved and hated my ambulatory rotation in vet school. The animals were great and fun to work with in a farm setting but the welfare was bleak due to the tight profit margin for the farmers. Dehorning was awful even with the local blocks - I even to this day retain the horrible mental block of grasping bleeders because it was so traumatic - cut off the horn and grab the crazy bleeding firehose of a vessel, roll it up and pull - ta da! Yikes.
I see the debudding issue close to the declawing issue. These animals were meant to have the horns/claws they have and there are natural tendencies for the uses of these appendages. If there are problems in the situation - ie cat destroying my couch - her needs are not being met. Could it be in our striving towards a higher level of animal welfare that we change the way we keep our charges so their natural tendencies can be met so we don't have to resort to disbudding/declawing?
It's a tough choice and maybe you go through with the disbudding with your kids and then with the next ones come up with another plan. It's the contemplation and the awareness that's important.
Dr. Kristin Sulis December 10th, 2008 02:36:30 AM
I think smaller goats with backward pointing horns are much less of a hazard than many other horned animals. With adults their ability to do much harm isn;t that different between having horns and just being hard-headed ;)
emily December 10th, 2008 10:04:39 AM
Is there any truth to the information floating around that the horns serve as some sort of temperature regulating appendage?
If so, living in a southern state, that would be something to consider as well...
I do also agree with emily - it also depends on the end shape of the goats horns. Those with pointy dagger-like horns obviously pose more of a danger than those with say, moutain goat-shaped horns which pose a much blunter danger, and a lower likelihood of getting caught on anything.
Also, interesting idea of PVC'ing the ends of the horns... a very Red Green sort of solution - love it. :O)
Kim December 11th, 2008 09:52:11 PM
I have wrestled with this for some time; to disbud or not to disbud? I have decided not to disbud and here is why. Many domesticated animals have aggressive behaviors for which certain parts of their anatomy make them more potentially dangerous. Horses have hooves to kick with, cats have claws to scratch with, and all animals have teeth to bite with. Yet, I am not about to cut off my horses hooves to protect them from each other, or protect myself from them. I do not declaw my cats because it is generally accepted science now that declawing causes them a lifetime of pain. And I don't think anyone is going to remove all their animals teeth to keep them from biting.
Only us humans with our so called common sense think the only "humane" thing to do is to amputate part of animals anatomy to protect them from themselves, or us from them. Sure disbudding a goat works to do what it is intended to do, but is it the only means to that end? I think not.
How about we try a little more challenging, but equally effective, method of caprine keeping that works. It is called herd management. With my horses, by far the more potentially dangerous and even aggressive of animals, we don't surgically alter them to assure our safety or theirs. What we do is to seperate aggressive animals from each other with safe fencing. This can be done with goats as well. Both are herd animals, so the argument of treating them cruely by seperating them from the herd is just not true. The fence, properly built can put a safety barrier between animals and each other and/or animals and people. It does not have to seperate entirely the herd animals from each other if it is built in such a way that they can safely be living next to each other seperated only by inches. This, to me, is far more humane than amputation, and is certainly painless compared to disbudding which is not only painful immediately, but can cause a life time of pain if not done correctly and missed parts of the horn grow back, sometimes right back into the head of the goat.
And please consider this: As a nurse I work with humans who humanely have body parts amputated. That part of them is gone forever, but the pain of the missing limb is not. It is called phantom pain, the pain of a proceedure long since over with. I have not read much, but I have yet not seen discussion online or in goat circles as to whether goats have phantom pain after disbudding, but I would think it entirely possible if not probably. Why is it we humans fail to apply the same logic to animals we have no problem applying to ourselves. If a goat has phantom pain, then it is a goat that by humans disbudding it is being made to suffer for life.
Last, we live on a small farm. There are natural predators to our goats in the area. Our fences do a fair job of protecting our goats from these threats, but they can not gaurantee total protection from things such as coyotes. I want my goats to have the natural defences god gave them, because they need it. There is just as much chance a goat will encounter a predetor and need those horns to protect themselves, as there is that they will get into a sitution where the horns are a liability.
Humans need to stop mutilating animals to quote-unquote help them. If one feels it is so horrible to keep an animal in captivity without amputating its body parts, then the answer is not amputation, it is don't keep them captive. AND, if one does keep them one should accept and manage the risks with methods that do not cause the animal suffering, even if that suffering SEEMS only to last minutes.
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