Disbudding Goat Kids

Photo courtesy of Cornell University

Well today's blog topic is not one of my favorites but falls under the category of necessary animal husbandry...goat kid disbudding. Today all seven of the miniature dairy goat kids were disbudded by CamoQueen. This is her second year taking care of our disbudding needs, and I am eternally grateful. GoatPrincess assisted her, and I simply fetched and returned kids as needed.

What is disbudding you say? Well it is the process of cauterizing the blood flow to the kid's horns so that they will no longer grow. Dairy goats with horns in tight quarters can cause damage to udders and get caught in fences. Our local 4H program does not allow kids to show or handle dairy goats with horns, so it is a simple necessity that must be dealt with each and every kidding season.

I found a great photo link from Cornell University that outlines the disbudding process if you're interested or are not familiar with it.