Dehorning kids: known methods and how to do it at home

Dehornization, or decornuation, is a special manipulation to remove and (or) prevent the growth of horns in young cattle or small ruminants. The main purpose of the operation is to protect humans and other animals from injury that horned individuals can inflict on them. The decontamination of small kids is carried out in group keeping, to eliminate problems in caring for them and for sale to other farms.

Why delete?

The ancestors of wild goats had beautiful and powerful horns, which they needed for mating fights and protection from predators. In the process of domestication and selection, the horns lost their original meaning, they even began to interfere with the group keeping of animals.

In the process of breeding hornless, that is, polled breeds, breeders are faced with the problem of increasing defective offspring that are born from hornless goats. It turned out that it is much easier and more convenient to remove the antlers when the age of the goat has not yet exceeded one or two weeks, than to keep the stock. The purpose of this procedure at such an early age is to:

cause minimal harm to the animal;
mitigate stress;
ensure continued good growth.

It is desirable to carry out decoration when keeping horned and polled goats together. The former try to dominate the latter and push them away when eating food. If adult animals are without horns, they will become calmer, their capabilities will be equalized, and everyone will get approximately the same amount of food.

What are the methods?

The decoration of goats with the help of special horn burners is the most popular all over the world. Disinfection at high temperatures is carried out with a thermocautery device. Two types of burners are used:

Gas. They are convenient where there is no electricity. Devices require a preliminary check on a wooden block. After warming up, they are applied to the tree. Black circles appearing on the bar indicate readiness for work.
Electrical. They are more secure. The time of readiness for use after switching on the network is indicated in the instructions.

Important! All types of burners are used on young animals until the horns appear above the surface of the skin.

If you need to remove the horns of grown individuals, then this must be done with the help of tight rubber bands. They can be bought both at veterinary pharmacies and picked up at an automotive or hardware store. The product should be round and half the diameter of the horn.Rubber bands can be used to remove horns in cases where they continue to grow after the first removal or a grown animal is being prepared for sale. With this method, the horns fall off on their own after 45-70 days.

In some cases, goat owners stop the growth of horns with special pastes based on strong alkalis:

"Dr. Naylor";
Antihorn;
"Hornex".

After applying the mixture to the horn, its tissues soften and die. Processing is preferably carried out from 3 to 8 days after birth, and do it in accordance with the instructions.

Preparation for the process

Before the dehorning procedure, you need to examine the animal and make sure that it is completely he althy.After that, you need to make sure that the kid has the beginnings of horns, and was not born hornless. To do this, apply a finger to the location of the horny tubercle. Lightly press on it and make a circular motion. If the skin under the finger moves or it is not possible to feel the tubercle at all, then the kid was born hornless. In horned individuals, the skin under the finger will remain motionless.

During the preparation for the process of dehorning the kids, you need to take care of the methods of fixing the animal. This will require either an assistant, or a small narrow box with a hole for the head will do. If there is no experience in carrying out manipulations to remove the horns, then it is advisable to invite an experienced goat owner for the first time.

How are goats dehorned at home?

If you have a thermocautery, goat decoration can be done at home. For this you need:

he alth check;
shave or cut hair in the area of the tubercles within a radius of 20 mm;
feel the bumps with your fingers;
turn on the device in advance;
put the animal in a box or fix in another way;
tightly attach the thermocauter to the tubercle;
wait 10 seconds and remove it;
let the place of cauterization cool and repeat the procedure several more times until a white or light yellow ring appears at the site of the tubercle;
perform the procedure on the second tubercle;
treat the head in places of cauterization with an anesthetic aerosol.

The beginnings of horns fall off about a month after cauterization. An adult goat can be dehorned with rubber bands. This is done as follows:

shave the hair around the horns;
with the help of an assistant, fix the animal and its head;
put the elastic on the base of the horn;
regularly, when bleeding wounds appear, treat them with an antiseptic;
if necessary, after a few weeks, cut the elastic from the horn and put on a new one;
after about two months the horns break off.

This procedure is quite unpleasant and even painful for animals. The horns are supplied with blood, and their contraction can adversely affect the he alth and productivity of animals.

It is advisable to dehornize with rubber bands in the fall, when there are no flies and other insects that are attracted to blood on the street.

Caring for a goat after dehorning

Immediately after the procedure, the animal must be calmed, petted and affectionately spoken to.If possible, it is desirable to keep the goat for several days separately from the rest of the herd. Monitor wounds and, if necessary, treat wound surfaces with an antiseptic. Sometimes antibiotics are prescribed.

To avoid weight loss after the stress suffered during manipulation, you will need to change the pet's diet. It should include:

green dried grass;
quality hay;
vegetables, fruits;
grain;
compound feed;
silo.

The animal must be provided with clean water, mineral supplements, s alt, premixes. If dehorning is done correctly, then re-antlering is not required.