dehorning complication

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Hi, I'm new to the forum, and relatively new to goat raising. I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or can advise as to the following. 2 years ago, we bought 2 pygmy goats (twin wethers) for my daughter's 4H project. They has been disbudded by a vet at 2 weeks, and we acquired them at about 3 months old. One's horns started to grow back, so we took him to the same vet. The goat was given general anesthesia and the scurs were burned off; everything seemed ok, it appeared to heal fine. However, about 2 months later, the entire horn area came off the top of the poor goat's head, leaving a bloody, raw area. You could even see part of the goat's sinus cavity. Of course, we immediately took him to the vet, who said in all his years of dehorning cattle & goats, he'd never seen this. He gave us antibiotics, copper sulfate and flumizol for the goat, and it seemed to heal again. However, just yesterday, another piece of this poor goat's head rubbed off (tho not near as large as the first time). It seems that the skin and hair grow back, but the bone never has. This has been going on for almost 18 months. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? My daughter loves her goats, and we hate to see him suffer.

-- kim fox (kobrien@cecom.com), July 10, 2003

Answers

Kim--Not to worry, I went about crazy the first time this happened to me. The remedy I use is to put a regular cotton ball down in the cavity. This keeps the area free of all pest and insects, and kepts the area from rupturing and bleeding. Just take a cotton ball and put the cotton in the area, the goat will probably let out a lot of screaming but do not worry. Change the cotton every couple of days, until the area is healed. If you do not want to this, then you can use household flour or baking soda poured into the area. Regards- Bryan

-- Bryan F. Armstrong (EmuKng1@yahoo.com), July 11, 2003.

I have not saw this in a goat but have in a horse. (it ran into a post) They did the same as Bryan suggested and it worked fine.

-- bergy (bbergbower@hotmail.com), July 13, 2003.

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