Best time to disbud kid

Q- When is the best time to disbud goat kids? Can I do it myself?

A - The best time I have generally found to disbud goat kids is about two weeks of age, when the horn buds can easily be felt either side of the head and before they get too big. Disbudding kids needs to be done by a veterinary surgeon. The difficulty with kids is that they are very susceptible to stress and so need to be anaesthetised in order to perform this. Secondly, goat kids have much thinner skulls and so the heat from a disbudding iron could damage the brain if incorrectly used. Around two weeks of age, when you can feel the horn buds, call your vet to perform the disbudding. Make sure the kids have access to a clean warm area post disbudding to allow a smooth recovery from the anaesthetic. Adults can be dehorned, but this is a much bigger operation.

Do you have an email welfare query? If so, send it to Jenny at vetsforum.csh@archant.co.uk

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