Bloody heads....wether w/scurs & polled buck

Hey all...I am seriously pondering getting rid of my wether who has large scurs. My buck is polled and has had frequent bloody heads from playing with his companion (wether).

Now I have a polled buckling that we've decided to keep. (He's blue eyed, polled and really pretty) He could take over as the buck's companion and I could now sell the wether.

Big question is: do two polled bucks bloody each other's heads in play, too? I would keep the wether if that were the case b/c the pasture will support him and I do feel a little guilty selling him but I really didn't know what I was in for with those scurs. Here in Florida, the heat, humidity and bugs mean even minor cuts can get really bad infections so I do clean and spray each and every bloody head which is a major pain in the tuckus. Only time I let them go is when it is chilly enough that there are no bugs and that two week period already passed lol.

I do not want to put this wether in with the girls again because then I would have to handle him daily and he is really obnoxious.

There isn't a wound the way they did it on my buck. It was just like he was disbudded again, so there was a disbudding scab and that's it. When he woke up from the anesthesia, it was like nothing had happened to him, and I had zero aftercare. Someone on here posted pictures of the holes in her buck's head when his were cut out. There is literally a hole where each horn bud was, and it's bloody and has to be cleaned regularly, and the goat is on antibiotics because it's open to his sinuses, and the skin has to grow over the hole. I just got lucky at U of I because another professor came through and watched part of it and told me that he would have dug out the horn bud if he were the one in charge of the case. I've recently learned that this is a common way to disbud cattle, and some vets can't get it through their head that goats are not little cows. In fact, someone said that her vet did this to her kids when she took them in for disbudding! It is MUCH worse than burning! Luckily she found a goat breeder in her area to teach her how to disbud with an iron.

Replies

Deborah Niemann-Boehle March 1, 2012 at 9:42am

There isn't a wound the way they did it on my buck. It was just like he was disbudded again, so there was a disbudding scab and that's it. When he woke up from the anesthesia, it was like nothing had happened to him, and I had zero aftercare. Someone on here posted pictures of the holes in her buck's head when his were cut out. There is literally a hole where each horn bud was, and it's bloody and has to be cleaned regularly, and the goat is on antibiotics because it's open to his sinuses, and the skin has to grow over the hole. I just got lucky at U of I because another professor came through and watched part of it and told me that he would have dug out the horn bud if he were the one in charge of the case. I've recently learned that this is a common way to disbud cattle, and some vets can't get it through their head that goats are not little cows. In fact, someone said that her vet did this to her kids when she took them in for disbudding! It is MUCH worse than burning! Luckily she found a goat breeder in her area to teach her how to disbud with an iron.
Juliana Goodwin March 1, 2012 at 7:30am

I am not super clear if there is much of a wound from the better method you mentioned, the cut and then burn. But I doubt either method would be realistic for us here, now. I would only attempt something like that in the dead of winter (which lasts two weeks lol) and we already missed it.

If I can't find him a good home I may consider doing it next year or seeing if his breeder will take him back. She has more resources than I do and did say when we bought them that she would take back any if we ever needed to get rid of them.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 29, 2012 at 5:52pm

Yes, you can take him to the vet to have the scurs cut off. I'd talk to the vet first though. It seems that most vets are under the impression that you have to dig them out and leave big ugly holes in the goat's head. However, when last year after one of my bucks halfway knocked off a scur, I took him to U of I, and they just cut it off flush with his head and used the disbudding iron on it, and NOTHING has grown back! It was not a big deal at all. Makes me so sad to think of how many goats have had holes cut in their heads for no good reason, and then the owners have to take care of them for a couple weeks, trying to keep those holes from getting infected while they close up. :(
Juliana Goodwin February 29, 2012 at 1:39pm

Okay well my buck is bloody at least once a month and I think it's even more often than that. And he's just got another busted head today which got me thinking about it.

And also this clearly is not the result of fighting, at least it doesn't appear so to me. Generally they seem very much to be playing, but the wether has weopons and the buck doesn't, so he gets whupped.

So I think I just made up my mind to sell him. But I will be choosy- and if I can't find him a good place to go I wouldn't sell. Is there any way to remove the scurs if I keep him?
Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 29, 2012 at 1:20pm

I don't think I've ever seen my polled bucks with bloody heads. Funny thing is that I've probably seen more blood on my does' heads than my bucks, although it's only once or twice a year. Typically here if a buck with scurs gets into a fight, he is the one with the bloody head when he breaks a scur.

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