# Disbudding sheep



## Jay27 (Jan 11, 2010)

A friend asked me to disbud her lambs, I have goats. I am good at the goats. Problem is, the sheep look completely different... Just a horn tip poking out, no base like a goat... Is it the same? I don't want to over burn... A goat has a horn plate in their head, do sheep have this? I am very confident in my disbudding skills with a goat, but unfamiliar with the lambs horn anatomy.


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## Rosepath (Feb 18, 2011)

Call me ignorant, but in 35 years of raising sheep, I've never heard of disbudding sheep.
Goats, yes, of course. She needs to check with her vet about the ramifications of trying to disbud sheep, just to be safe, especially if they are 4H lambs. What breed? Why?


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## Jay27 (Jan 11, 2010)

I am not familiar with sheep... They are Shetland crossed with something with a T (tunic? she knows, I don't)... One lamb has horns starting, she was told her ram was disbudded... He has scurs.... She does not want horned animals.


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## Jay27 (Jan 11, 2010)

I'm not pretending to know anything about this , just trying to help her... What do they do to remove horns from sheep?


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## trainv (Apr 30, 2013)

check with your feed supply store or on line, they make a paste esp for lambs that you paint on the buds and horns are gone.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

There are so many hornless sheep breeds, I'm not sure why your friend would purposely breed horned Shetlands. Most Shetlands have small horns that are curved close to the head, and they don't cause an issue like horned dairy goats (who typically have large horns). 

I get that your friend can do whatever she wants with her animals, I just find it a little odd she'd want to disbud her horned breed of sheep, when the same breed comes hornless. 

And the disbudding paste is awful...it can be rubbed into eyes or on other parts of skin and cause sores. Nasty stuff.


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