Broken H Farm

I have a customer requesting her 4H goats be disbudded. I stopped that practice many years ago from both a moral dilemma and because of health concerns I witnessed. I’ve told the customer that if she wishes it done, she must assume all liability and be present when it occurs for I will not take part. To be honest I'm struggling with not canceling the sale outright, that's how strongly I feel over it.  With all that shared, I thought it might be a good idea to do an informative piece on exactly what disbudding means and why I am against it.

So, what is disbudding? Disbudding is the practice of burning the horn buds off of baby goats. This is typically done when the goats are still very young. The average age for meat breeds, like Boers, is actually three weeks old. To do this you take a specialized disbudding iron and burn a hole in the skull of a baby goat, destroying the horn buds. This is a customary practice for dairy goats but only about 16% of meat goat producers do so (per USDA) It was once a common and required practice to have your goats disbudded to show at county fairs however, most fairs have stopped requiring this practice.

I have raised goats for 23 years now. In my early years of raising goats, I sold largely into the 4H market and I regularly had the goats disbudded by a vet. I stopped doing so in 2010 after watching some horrific injuries occur over the last couple years. Below I will outline the dangers of disbudding and what purpose the horns actually serve.

Horns are directly connected to the sinus cavity of the goat and act as a heat “radiator” helping to cool the goat in hot weather. Blood vessels in the horns help circulate blood to the surface where it has a chance to cool and then be pulled back into the body. Goats with their horns removed often struggle in the heat. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to observe a goat with horns versus a goat, without in hot weather, you can see the difference. A dehorned goat pants far harder and struggles in the heat worse than its horned counterpart. They will seek out shade while they're horned to companions will lay in the sun. Horns also help a goat protect itself. Goats are a prey animal and often fall victim to coyotes and dogs. Without their horns, they have less of an opportunity to defend themselves.

Now proponents of horn removal will tell you that it may be done for the safety of other goats, but mainly it’s done for people who do not take the time to learn how to handle goats properly. The default method is simply to remove the horns rather than working and acting in a safe manner around them. Can a goat hurt you and others with its horns? Yes, the same as a child can hurt you by poking you in your eye or throwing something at you but we don’t cut off their hands to avoid this do we? Of course not! We take steps to avoid it. The other argument is that horned goats get their head stuck in the fence. Yes they sure will if you’re using wire fencing meant for cattle. Here I mostly use sheep and goat woven wire. The openings are 4 inches square. This keeps a goat from sticking their head through the fence. If your existing fence is already standard woven wire the easy way to fix this problem is to run a strand of electric fence on the inside. Paired with a solar fencer, this will keep the goats away from the woven wire fence.

So, what are the dangers to a goat when disbudding?  Other than the obvious of sticking a red hot iron to it head and burning a hole in its skull to destroy the horn buds or “roots”, there are other concerns. The stress of the action can cause shock, seizures and some instances even death. Infection from these wounds can occur and of course it causes great pain. They SCREAM when it is done and it is not just once, no the iron is pressed to their head twice. Once for each horn. Imagine having a red hot poker pressed to your head, or even worse to your baby’s! Years ago, when I participated in such activity, I had a young goat to go into a seizure after the procedure was done, one went into shock and stopped breathing, another had bleeding from the area and another kid never acted the same again. It’s coordination was always off after that day. The coordination issues and seizure cause me to strongly believe that the disbudding iron caused damage to the brain. With a horn leading leading directly into the sinus cavity, an infection from the disbudding can be fatal as it opens a direct pathway to the sinuses and the brain. It also increases the risk for tetanus.

So, what to do if your county fair still requires the disbudding of goat projects? Other than the obvious of refusal to take part, I would suggest that you petition them to stop this barbaric practice. According to the USDA only 9% of meat goat kids are disbudded and I imagine most of those are for 4H market projects. So, if 91% of meat goats are permitted to keep their horns how big of a safety concern can a horn be? So, let’s not kid ourselves that we are removing horns for safety because that is not the reason.

I work my animals alone every day. I am acutely aware of safety, and I am acutely aware of how easy it could be for me to get badly hurt and have no one to help me or even know I need help. Yet, I do not see the horns on my goats as a concern. One precaution I do is I tip off the ends, I blunt them. This causes the goats no pain and I can continue to do it whenever the need arises. I learned a long time ago how to work around horns, how to respect my animals and there’s no reason 4H kids cannot be taught the same respect and safety practices. So, I challenge, let’s do better!  Let’s be better stewards and not maim our animal companions because it’s the easy way.

So, until next time, be strong, be their voice, be empathetic.