Today, Edna took her trip to the vet to have those tiny knobs bulging from her head "disbudded." Many people choose to disbud their goats themselves, but I thought the $18 for the vet to do it was well worth it! It might be a skill I learn in the future.
Edna's budding horns
Although the vet specializes in both large and small animals, I still got some interesting glances carrying little Edna into the office.
"A goat?!" said one man as we entered the building.
"Oh, how cuuuuuute!" exclaimed another lady standing at the desk with her Dachshund running around on its leash. "It's a goat!"
Oh well, I'll take my goat despite the out-of-the-ordinary remarks.
We were escorted into the barn area where the vet heated up a hot iron rod. The end was shaped in a circular ring about 2 inches in diameter. While we were waiting for the iron to heat up, Edna received her CD/T (tetanus) shot. I have debated with whether or not to give my animals shots. As I do more research, I hope to gain more understanding about shots.
When the vet got ready to disbud, he shaved off the hair around Edna's horns. He then placed the iron to burn around each horn. The smell was awful! After he was finished, he sprayed a "spray-on bandage" over the area to protect it. Poor Edna! She looks so silly with her silver dollar spots on her head!
As I understand it, the procedure does not actually burn the horn off, instead, it severs the nerves which make the horns grow. In several weeks the nubs will fall off and the hair will begin growing back.
Some goats are born polled (without horns). But most of these polled goats end up infertile (a bad situation if you want milking goats that reproduce). So, at least for now, almost all goat keepers are stuck with disbudding!
On a happy note, Edna is getting stronger every day! She has been exercising her climbing skills and is almost able to climb over her play yard fence!
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