Matilda's Horns

Matilda is our new Nubian kid who was born to Annie not long ago.  When the last set of triplets were born, we didn't de-horn (dis-bud) them.  We learned our lesson.  Many times in the following weeks and months, we heard crying out in the pasture only to go out and find that the goats had put their heads through the fence to eat green grass and got stuck in the fence.  While they could get their heads through the fence, when they went to pull out, their horns caught.

We'd run out and free them, but they are dim bulbs.  They would inevitably get stuck again.  It is not safe for them to have horns.  Furthermore, it is not safe for us.  Those horns can quickly put out your eye if you are not careful.  Of course to leave horns or remove them is a matter personal due the goat owner and there are strong opinions either way.

We decided to dis-bud Matilda when she was about 2 weeks old.  You could just feel the little nubs of her horns on her little head.

I used our cow clippers to trim the hair away from the horn buds.  We are using Dr. Naylor's De-Horning paste and we want to ensure the paste makes good contact with the horn bud area.

Then, using gloves, I held Matilda's head firmly and applied the paste on her horns and in a ring around the base of the horn.  Dr. Naylor's De-horning paste is made with Calcium Hydroxide and Sodium Hydroxide.  It prevents horn growth.

This stuff will burn you.  You want to make sure it doesn't get on you.  You also want to make sure it doesn't get in the animal's eyes.  To prevent this, we make a 'cap' over the paste area with duct tape.  Matilda cried and cried.  

Annie, the momma goat, did not like hearing her baby cry.  She poked her head up above the gate to the next stall to check things out.  

After 40 minutes we took the duct tape cap off Matilda's head and neutralized the de-horning paste with vinegar.  Matilda was back to her normal self, so while the de-horning paste caused some momentary discomfort, it ended quickly.  And hopefully we will see that the paste prevented horn growth so that Matilda won't get her head stuck in the fence and won't poke our eyes out.

An Update on Clarabull (Clarabelle's bull calf)

Three bulls on the pasture now.  Astro, and then Rosie's little bull and finally Clarabull, Clarabelle's little bull.  Clarabull likes running in the pasture, kicking up his heels and chasing the chickens.  We enjoy watching him from the backyard while he puts on a show for us.  He started out as a little weak fellow, but now he is strong and healthy.

Even though we rarely keep bulls on our pasture for longer than a year and a half, we don't want horns on them.  Horns can be dangerous.  They can gore other animals and can gore you!  We wait until about 7-14 days after the calves have been born and then de-horn them.  It was time to do this for Clarabelle's little bull.  Although we won't go through all the steps, by clicking on this link: DEHORNING CLARABELLE, you can see step by step how we dehorned Clarabelle.

Clarabull was not too happy about the procedure.  Here he is with his duct tape protective covering.  This keeps the de-horning paste from getting in his eyes or on other animals.

While it may look silly, it serves it's purpose.  Dr. Naylor's De-horning paste is a caustic paste.  At night, we trim the hair down to where we can see the horn bud, we apply a nickel-sized amount of De-horning paste over the horn bud and the put a ring of petroleum jelly around the de-horning paste to contain it.

The duct-tape protective cap will stay on until the morning.  In the morning, we take it off, wash off the area around his horns and hopefully, the horn buds will not grow.  In a month or two, we will be able to tell if the procedure was successful.