Reburning Scurs

Ok, I've searched the archives and haven't managed to answer my question, so:

I have three 5 week old bucklings that just had their disbudding scabs fall off.  Out of the three, one appears to have one scur coming in, and another has scurs on both sides.  The scurs are just barely breaking through the skin, but I can tell it is dark horn material.   I'm surprised that the scurs have formed towards the back of the disbudding area, but the farmer that helped me concentrated on the forward area to prevent scurs from forming in the front... guess we should have done more of a figure 8 pattern. 

I know I need to reburn those scurs, I have the Rhinehart X-30, but is the procedure basically the same for the reburning as the initial disbudding?  Do I hold the disbudding iron over the scur for 5 seconds?  Do I need to repeat and try to flick off the scur?  I had an experienced goat farmer help me with the initial disbudding when they were 3 days old, as it was my first time.  I feel confident I can handle the scur reburning, just wanted to get a few pointers here.

Thanks in advance!

~Charmaine

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Replies

  • That's why I used the band. It did work. The scur was curling towards her head. It did take awhile.

    Carissa Gillis said:
    I'm curious, did the band's work? We bought a yearling buck that has scurs on both sides, one is curling into his head :(





    Melissa Johnson said:

    Deborah, I have read about using castrating bands to remove scurs. I put two bands on today as close to the head as possible (bucks are 9 months old) and used some duct tape to hold it in place. Hopefully.  They were disbudded as kids and when I brought them home from the breeder - they had scurs developing - I took them to the vet and he redid it. Now here I am again with curling scurs..... I am trying the bands on one - do you have any horror stories with this method??

    The vet here - puts kids to sleep for disbudding - he says he uses the least dose possible - he believes it to be too painful having your head burnt I believe to do it without.    

    Regardless, do you have any experience with bands for scurs?
     
    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    If you just want to trim them to make them less pointy and dangerous, it doesn't hurt them. The closer you get to their head, the more likely you will get into the part where there are blood vessels, and then it could bleed, which probably also means that it hurts. Otherwise, it's like trimming your nails.

    Hannah Person said:

    We have some goats with scurs, but we don't want to have them reburned. For most of them they seem to be just staying small. But there is one who is actually growing his scur a bit. We've been too scared to try hoof trimmers to clip it. Is it really that simple though, just clip it off? Will it hurt the goat?

  • I'm curious, did the band's work? We bought a yearling buck that has scurs on both sides, one is curling into his head :(





    Melissa Johnson said:

    Deborah, I have read about using castrating bands to remove scurs. I put two bands on today as close to the head as possible (bucks are 9 months old) and used some duct tape to hold it in place. Hopefully.  They were disbudded as kids and when I brought them home from the breeder - they had scurs developing - I took them to the vet and he redid it. Now here I am again with curling scurs..... I am trying the bands on one - do you have any horror stories with this method??

    The vet here - puts kids to sleep for disbudding - he says he uses the least dose possible - he believes it to be too painful having your head burnt I believe to do it without.    

    Regardless, do you have any experience with bands for scurs?
     
    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    If you just want to trim them to make them less pointy and dangerous, it doesn't hurt them. The closer you get to their head, the more likely you will get into the part where there are blood vessels, and then it could bleed, which probably also means that it hurts. Otherwise, it's like trimming your nails.

    Hannah Person said:

    We have some goats with scurs, but we don't want to have them reburned. For most of them they seem to be just staying small. But there is one who is actually growing his scur a bit. We've been too scared to try hoof trimmers to clip it. Is it really that simple though, just clip it off? Will it hurt the goat?

  • Deborah, I have read about using castrating bands to remove scurs. I put two bands on today as close to the head as possible (bucks are 9 months old) and used some duct tape to hold it in place. Hopefully.  They were disbudded as kids and when I brought them home from the breeder - they had scurs developing - I took them to the vet and he redid it. Now here I am again with curling scurs..... I am trying the bands on one - do you have any horror stories with this method??

    The vet here - puts kids to sleep for disbudding - he says he uses the least dose possible - he believes it to be too painful having your head burnt I believe to do it without.    

    Regardless, do you have any experience with bands for scurs?
     
    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    If you just want to trim them to make them less pointy and dangerous, it doesn't hurt them. The closer you get to their head, the more likely you will get into the part where there are blood vessels, and then it could bleed, which probably also means that it hurts. Otherwise, it's like trimming your nails.

    Hannah Person said:

    We have some goats with scurs, but we don't want to have them reburned. For most of them they seem to be just staying small. But there is one who is actually growing his scur a bit. We've been too scared to try hoof trimmers to clip it. Is it really that simple though, just clip it off? Will it hurt the goat?

  • If you just want to trim them to make them less pointy and dangerous, it doesn't hurt them. The closer you get to their head, the more likely you will get into the part where there are blood vessels, and then it could bleed, which probably also means that it hurts. Otherwise, it's like trimming your nails.

    Hannah Person said:

    We have some goats with scurs, but we don't want to have them reburned. For most of them they seem to be just staying small. But there is one who is actually growing his scur a bit. We've been too scared to try hoof trimmers to clip it. Is it really that simple though, just clip it off? Will it hurt the goat?

  • We have some goats with scurs, but we don't want to have them reburned. For most of them they seem to be just staying small. But there is one who is actually growing his scur a bit. We've been too scared to try hoof trimmers to clip it. Is it really that simple though, just clip it off? Will it hurt the goat?

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    We have never done reburning before, but after having to take a buck to the vet last year to deal with a scur that was half-broken off, I've decided to start doing this. However, we've had about 75% does so far, so we haven't had a chance to do it yet. All I know is that you use hoof trimmers to get the scur flat with the head, then you burn it. I have not had much luck finding more detailed info. That is actually what they did with the yearling buck last year, and his scur never grew back. Of course, he was a year, so they had to sedate him to do it.

  • Hi Danielle,

    the reburn was successful.  I recommend waiting until the scabs are off so you can see exactly what you're dealing with for scurs.  Next time I disbud, I will do the full figure 8 burn the first time around to avoid having to do any reburns.

    Best of luck!

    ~Charmaine

  • I am going to need to reburn at least one of my buckling's scurs.  Would you mind telling me if the scurs grew back again on your wether?  I know my buck (soon to be wether) might end up with a different outcome, but I was looking for some possibilities!  His scabs have not fallen off yet, but I can tell the area underneath is not flat :(

    Charmaine Slaven said:

    I did the deed.  Reburned both bucklings today on both sides.  Went as smoothly as can be expected.  5 1/2 weeks old and they are strong and can yell alot louder than when they were 3 days old!  

    Got the iron nice and hot, applied about 3 burns per site for a shorter count of 3 seconds per burn.  I was worried that the tissue was alot thinner since they've already been disbudded once, so was conservative on the burn times, but was aggressive enough to get a white ring (skull) and then used the edge of the iron to flick off the cap in the middle then burned the interior circle with criss-crosses.  I REALLY hope this takes care of any future scur issues.

    I'm castrating them with a side clamp burdizzo (the one recommended by Fiasco Farms) later this week.  Bad week for them, but hopefully the reduction in hormones will help reduce future scur development as well.

    ugh, I'm shaky and smell like barbecued goat.  Thanks for your responses on this topic!

  • I use the Burdizzo. It is far less traumatic than disbudding.

  • I did the deed.  Reburned both bucklings today on both sides.  Went as smoothly as can be expected.  5 1/2 weeks old and they are strong and can yell alot louder than when they were 3 days old!  

    Got the iron nice and hot, applied about 3 burns per site for a shorter count of 3 seconds per burn.  I was worried that the tissue was alot thinner since they've already been disbudded once, so was conservative on the burn times, but was aggressive enough to get a white ring (skull) and then used the edge of the iron to flick off the cap in the middle then burned the interior circle with criss-crosses.  I REALLY hope this takes care of any future scur issues.

    I'm castrating them with a side clamp burdizzo (the one recommended by Fiasco Farms) later this week.  Bad week for them, but hopefully the reduction in hormones will help reduce future scur development as well.

    ugh, I'm shaky and smell like barbecued goat.  Thanks for your responses on this topic!

  • We have never done reburning before, but after having to take a buck to the vet last year to deal with a scur that was half-broken off, I've decided to start doing this. However, we've had about 75% does so far, so we haven't had a chance to do it yet. All I know is that you use hoof trimmers to get the scur flat with the head, then you burn it. I have not had much luck finding more detailed info. That is actually what they did with the yearling buck last year, and his scur never grew back. Of course, he was a year, so they had to sedate him to do it.

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