It’s all in your head: Goat disbudding for newbies

Abstract

Horns are one of the few defense mechanisms that goats are equipped with and they can be useful for animal restraint. However, keeping livestock with horns can present safety con­cerns to producers, animals and infrastructure. Horns can be­come caught in fencing resulting in animal distress. They can also be used to cause harm to other livestock and humans or may be used to damage feeders, buildings or fences. Some pro­ducers may wish to mitigate these challenges by removing the horns or preventing them from growing at all. Veterinarians play an integral role in ensuring that this procedure is accom­plished as efficiently as possible and that appropriate analgesia is utilized. Disbudding and dehorning of sheep is not recom­mended at any age unless the immediate health and welfare of the animal is at stake (i.e. horn trauma).