Edit Article

Community Q&A

Horns are pretty, but hard to live with. Goats hurt each other with them, get locked in a hay manger or fence, and horns are no use at all when defending against dogs (who hunt in packs and attack the rear). You the goat-keeper can do a ten-second procedure to produce a clean-headed healthy kid goat.



  1. 1
    Gather the things you need. Have the iron hot, so that you can put a black ring char on a piece of wood instantly. Have a seat, and your friend will put the baby goat into your lap. Cross your leg over its body for restraint, and use your non-dominant hand to hold baby's head against your chest, its ear folded down and covered by your gloved hand. This procedure must be done when the baby goat is as young as three days old, BEFORE the horn tip starts to poke up through the hair. Some horns take up to ten days to start sprouting. Waiting too long is much harder on the baby goat.
  2. 2
    Identify the horn buds. Feel with a fingertip in the hair, remove hair, and see the point of the horn bud. Find the perimeter of its base so you can see how you will apply the iron centered, covering all the base. (This will ensure that a bit of the horn base doesn't regrow into big deformed curls of horn tissue called scurs. If they do start to grow, just reapply the iron.) Notice that the point of the bud has a spine proceeding toward the nose, so that the perimeter is not circular. (Ideally, you can have your vet anesthetize, but this procedure is very brief and the use of anesthetic is not common.)
  3. 3
    Apply the disbudding iron. Plant the iron onto the horn base, blow on it to see through the smoke. Baby will cry and wiggle even if the area is prenumbed successfully with anesthetic. Keep it on for a slow count of ten, using a vigorous press and twist to smear through the layers of tissue down to an orange-brown ring (roll out the button of tissue you have removed). Then apply ice cubes on the wound, to stop heat penetration. Staying on too long, like twenty seconds on a very young animal, can heat the sinuses.
  4. 4
    Feed the baby some milk or return her to her mother. She may sleep more today, but will sustain the wound and thrive.
  5. 5
    Monitor the healing and enjoy the result. It takes two months for the horn scabs to fall off, and they can be slightly junky-stinky underneath. Whenever you hold the baby, you can look for ooze or smell, and then medicate with a wound treatment. If they get bumped, they can crack, so apply a bit of wound cream.

Community Q&A

Ask a Question



  • If you will keep this kid goat as a breeding buck, you can reduce his musk odor with disbudding. Ask an accomplished goat breeder where the musk glands are and how to do this little added maneuver.
  • Horns grow on both male and female kids, and not on every goat. Naturally hornless goats have large knobs without the little bud of beginning horn tissue.
  • Meat breeds are usually not disbudded, since they don't spend much time in buildings and the sale value is unaffected.
  • Clean hornless heads are of more value for animal sale.
  • Veterinarians don't get to do this often enough to be skilled, so they botch it and the poor baby gets a redo, sometimes three or four go-rounds.


  • This procedure is medically described as cautery, involving a cherry-red hot iron, so wear thick gloves.

Things You'll Need

  • You need a real disbudding iron of at least 100 watts. Those sold for calves are too large for baby goats. Try 'Caprine Supply' for a source - Google it.
  • Thick gloves, and maybe a cap to cover your hair.
  • Ice cubes to apply to horn spots immediately after treatment
  • A stout chair or upturned bucket
  • Electricity, not an extension cord (low wattage)
  • Clippers or scissors for snipping away hair for your first few times
  • An encouraging long-time goatkeeping friend or three to coach you
  • A bottle of milk for the baby goat if not raised on its mother

Article Info

Categories: Goats


Did this article help you?