A Note on Banding Horns, Goat Owners Please Read

[kstaven]

Quote:
Very well said. Always appreciate a tell it like it is post on animal care.

 

[Dragonwoodmom]

I realize this is an old thread, but I have a question hopefully someone can answer.

I was given some goats recently that have bands on their horns. One of them still has both horns although it appears there is a bit of damage to them from the bands. I am planning on keeping the horns of all future babies. I'm wondering if it would be okay to remove the bands, and what would happen if I did. Would the horns heal? Would there be irreparable damage, or would it cause infection or some other issue?

Thanks!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If the band's were incorrectly place they won't work, but be careful grabbing them by their horns because if the band's are working you can snap them off and then you have a bloody mess. The correct placement of the band's should be down tight at the base of the horn and should be on the skin a bit. If they are just on the horn itself you can snip them off, the band's will actually remove parts of the horns if left on long enough. I personally would leave the band's on and not mess with them unless they are up higher, because they are either working and it would be unwise to stop the process, or they aren't working and they will eventually break off. You can tell by watching the goats to see if they are using their horns or not on each other to tell if the band's are doing their job..

 

[Dragonwoodmom]

It appears the bands may be incorrectly placed. They aren't all the way down by the skin.

How would they act if the bands are working? Would they not be using their horns to fight because it's painful?

One of the goats has only one horn left, and that horn is sticking straight out of the middle of it's head like a spike. That one would be best if the horn came off since it would be dangerous if it were to fight. If the band is placed wrong would there be a way to move it into the correct place?

Is there a way to tell if the horns are weak on the one with two horns left? I'd really rather remove the bands on that one if doing so won't cause harm.

Thanks for replying!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If the band's are working they are very tentative about using them or even getting bumped in the head, there will be no using them, normally a goat will use his horns a lot, especially when playing or fighting over food, bashing their herd mates.

If you can catch the one without bumping his horns and hold him really still and kinda wiggle a horn he would let you know pretty quickly that it hurts by screaming, the one with the single horn will probably lose it eventually, it can take a couple of months for band's to work and sometimes they hang on by a little bit, never pull them off, it hurts and can bleed profusely.

If the horns appear firmly in place to where there no give and the goat doesn't scream you are probably safe to remove the band's, a quick snip with a scissor will do it, though unfortunately you will have one with horns and one without, some with horns can be bullies.

 

[Dragonwoodmom]

Thank you for the info!

I gently handled the horns and it doesn't seem like it was painful at all for either the one with two horns or the other one. The horns seemed pretty solidly in place. They were also playfully head butting each other while I was out there. I believe the bands have been on for at least several months. I think I will go ahead and remove the ones from the two horned goat as we already have a mixed herd of horned/dehorned.

I'm still wondering if I should move the band, or add a new band in the proper place on the unicorn one. That one is a wether, so if the others end up bullying him I will find him a new home.

Thanks again!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would remove them than, if you decide to try to reband the one you need to get as far down the horn as possible, we use a horse hoof pick to pull them down, than we follow up with electric tape to hold it down there until it can set properly, I read an article about using wire wrapped, but that didn't work for us so we discovered electric tape will stay on for a while, wrapped it good.

 

[Dragonwoodmom]

Thank you so much! You've been extremely helpful!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Good luck, and you're welcome

 

[Yvonne37894]

A friend has a buck that she has banded. The horn came off I think too soon. What is available to cover this with?