# kids horns growing after disbudding



## farmgirl85 (Apr 26, 2003)

Hi I am wondering what I should do with my 2 kids that their horns are growing back?


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## Sarah J (Jun 28, 2003)

farmgirl85 said:


> Hi I am wondering what I should do with my 2 kids that their horns are growing back?


You probably have scurs growing back and need to re-do the disbudding. What breed are they? I have been recently informed that Saanens, for one, have a wider base and need a larger disbudding head - I've done my girl twice and she's growing scurs *again*...but my Nubian kid was done once with no regrowth...

Cut the scur back to the scalp as close as you can with your hoof trimmers. Then reburn the area, all around it, for a full slow count of 10. If they grow back yet again, I'd suspect that you need a larger head on the iron...

Hope that helps.

-Sarah


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## moonspinner (Jul 2, 2002)

How old are the kids? How big are the scurs? If you can get an iron over them they can still be reburned. Even if you can pare them down first and get the iron over them you will still be okay. But the problem in regrowth is almost always either not burning long enough or (especially with bucks!) the width of the base. It has taken my two years to learn to do a thorough job on bucks. Even then they can get stubborn scur growth and you just have to catch it again. Some people claim success with elastrator banding but I've never tried it.


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## farmgirl85 (Apr 26, 2003)

Thanks Sarah and Moonspinner. 
They are the Saanen breed and right at 3 months of age , with this information I may have the courage now to try and dehorn them again. I wasn't sure if you could do this when they got older. I am learning as I go. Your information has been very helpful...Thanks Again


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## MoBarger (Mar 5, 2003)

Also the smaller scurs fall off after a while. Sometimes it is a long while, but they do fall off. :haha:


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## ByGraceFarms (Apr 22, 2004)

I have a similar problem. But, I took all of mine to the veterinarian to have them dehorned. The vet assured me, they wouldn't grow back, but they did. I raise mostly LaManchas, and have a few Nubians. It seems that all the LaMancha males' horns have grown back, but the females haven't. My buck, had his horns removed by the disbudding iron, twice...and had to have his head painted silver as a kid, and they still grew back. I figure, so long as they aren't sharp and dangerous, not much I can do.

Just my 2c


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## farmgirl85 (Apr 26, 2003)

I guess if the vet done the work and still they still came back , then the goat is going to have horns. 
I am going to try and dehorn them again, but now I'm worried about the flies and mosquitos.Should I go ahead and do it now or do it before I breed this fall?
If I wait the horns will be inch to two inches at the baseand harder to remove.


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## Laura Workman (May 10, 2002)

Definitely do it now. Flies are not typically a problem with disbudding. And definitely go right down to skull with the dehorner. The horn will be all cartilage inside, but you need to take that off down to skull. Is there anyone experienced in your area who can help you with it?


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## farmgirl85 (Apr 26, 2003)

Thanks for the confidence!!! Yes, I do have a couple friends in the area that can help me.


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## valsey (May 21, 2006)

I'm having the same problem with my boys. Its seems like just a flat 'curl' is growing back. They feel loose. Could they fall off on their own?


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

I got a new disbudding iron, and not being used to it, didn't leave it on long enough -- most of my babies this year are going to either be horned (but blunt) or have scurs. Hopefully I'll do better next year.

Kathleen


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## goatkid (Nov 20, 2005)

I am so glad I watched my friend disbud many kids before she had me do a few of mine with her coaching me. Some folks on these forums say to just go to the copper ring. When you do that, you risk bad scurs or the horns growing back. When we disbud, we go to a white ring and then pop off the whole horn bud. I have only had scurs on one La Mancha wether doing it that way and he must have had a wide horn base, as some bucks do. My doelings all turn out very nice.


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

If it's not bad can I leave a scur alone? I'll have to take a picture of mine as maybe see what you think. It is on our little wether and only on one side. When do you have to re-dehorn? I don't think it's going to be an actual horn, more of just a small curl.


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