The Time That the Goats Don't Like

At about 10 days old should be a happy time being a baby goat, right?  The kids are so cute.  Long ears.  Spotted coat.  They run around jumping playfully.  We already introduced you to Callie (Short for Kaleidoscope)  We named her that because she has really wild spots and designs on her face.  The little one below is named Mocha, due to the coloration of the spots on her coat.  Her Mom has horns.  We didn't remove them and that was a mistake.  She is the only creature on Our Maker's Acres Family Farm that has horns.  She uses those horns to show her dominance, bullying the other animals.  We have to be careful around her as the horns are dangerous and can easily put out an eye.

So the other night Tricia asked, "Are you ready to take care of the little girls' horns tonight?"  I was, but I wasn't.  It is not a pleasant task.  The goats are in pain for a little bit, but they get better quickly.  Another danger to goats having horns is that they can get themselves caught in fences and hang themselves.  It just had to be done.

We marched out to the barn with the clippers.  Prior to de-horning, we shave the hair around the little horn buds so that we can see where to apply the de-horning iron.  This is the dehorning iron.

This is the de-horning iron after it has been plugged in for 10 minutes.  It is cherry red.  We test it by burning a 2 x 4.  Once it leaves a black circle on the wood, we know it is ready to go.

With Tricia sitting on top of the kids and holding their long, floppy ears out of the way, I apply the de-horning iron for a 5 second count.  The smoke pours, the base of the horn sizzles, and the babies cry.  Then I move to the next one.  Then I come back and get them again until I see a copper circle around the entire horn bud.  Next I put the hot iron on the top of the horn bud.  Then the job is done.

Then we de-horned the other goat.  By the time we left the barn, they were both running around like normal.  Especially the next morning, all was good.  We will keep an eye on them to ensure all was successful and the horn bud is killed.  Sometimes it doesn't work.  Sometimes, I don't want to hurt them and don't leave it long enough, and the horn will re-grow.  I think I got it this time, though.