# Goats Horns Torn or Broken Off?



## junkertyge (Nov 1, 2004)

*Hi, I'm sort of new on this board as we owned some Nubian goats for about a year now. Last Evening sometime, don't know when this had happened in our smaller barn, one of our younger goat's horn got broken/torn and is just hanging off the one side of her head. She is not bleeding anymore, but she is ok but she is staying away from the others. I guess she is not wanting to hit her head or bump it anywhere. We want to give her some antibiotic and tetanus shots and we will do that soon. We had not dehorned the two babies at the time when they were young because we didn't get out instrument yet for dehorning. We already did the other two younger kids and it worked ok but it didn't get all the horns off. But still they are far smaller in size and they may never have this problem like this younger goat is having now. I know we can't do much and it may heal as is, but with the horn still hanging, lucky it's not sticking out but we don't know what to do now. We don't want to put any more stress on her as she is now to just cut off the rest of the horn that is hanging. Or may this just fall off in a few days? We never owned horned goats before and we know that this does happened to them sometimes when they get it stuck in something. Just wondering what else to do now? We may still have to call or Vets but today it's snowing so hard and maybe he won't do housecalls. Also they do certain times and it's mainly in the morning not afternoon or evening times. Not sure about that too. They do know about goats so maybe we may just ask by phone what else we can do for her. Any answers to our problem? Thanks.
junkertyge/Nancy*


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## Jen H (Jun 16, 2004)

First, put the goat into a pen by herself so none of the others can bump into her and make the horn worse. Spray some iodine or blukote around the base of the horn to disinfect the area as much as you can. 

If the horn is hanging, it probably won't heal. The horn will shrivel up and drop off eventually - it will take a couple of months. A new one will grow, but it won't be as securely anchored as the old one was and will be broken again more easily. If you decide to cut the horn off yourself, make darned sure everything you use is sterile, and be prepared for lots of blood - there's an artery that runs up the middle of the horn. If you want the horn gone permanently, you need to cut the horn off at the base and cauterize the area so it won't re-grow. 

When one of my guys broke his horn, I chickened out and had the vet dehorn him. It cost $60, the whole thing was done under anesthesia (sp?) by someone who wasn't freaked out and knew what they were doing. A couple of months later, you couldn't tell the critter had ever had horns to begin with.

This isn't a complete emergency. You have time to sit and figure out what you feel comfortable doing. If the vet can't get out today, tomorrow will be fine. Watch her temperature, make sure she's eating ok. A CD&T shot is a good idea. Keep the area around the horn as clean as you can. Spray iodine or blukote on it once a day (keep it out of the eyes!) to keep things disinfected.


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## Sondra Peterson (Dec 5, 2002)

You don't say if it is broken to the head area or just higher up but if it is broken so there is an open cavity then it needs to be as said above cleaned real good maybe even hydrogen peroxide. and covered so flies dirt etc etc don't get down in there . Or you will have big problems.


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