• Horned cattle should be penned separately for transport.
• There are advantages in disbudding goat kids too. Goats with horns can use them to good effect on other goats, and horns get hooked up in fences.
• Horn buds begin to appear around the time of birth or within a week or so of birth.
• Disbudding should be carried out while the buds are still very small, well before they become too large for a disbudding iron to fit over.
• Feel around the poll of young calves daily from a few days of age to check the horn buds, and disbud as soon as they form small hard caps.
• For most calves the best age for disbudding is from 3 to 6 weeks of age.
• Goat horns often appear earlier than calf horns and they grow faster, so check kids daily from birth.

• The most humane method is use of a custom-made circular hot iron to cauterize the tissue around the base of the horn.
• The procedure should take only a few seconds, but it’s painful, skill is required and applying a hot iron to the head requires firm restraint of the animal.
• Don’t be too forceful, especially with goat kids. Because of their smaller size and thinner skull they are more prone to injury from excess force or deep burns.

• There are caustic chemicals on the market for disbudding.
• These are applied to the horn bud to cause chemical burns to permanently damage the horn-producing area.
• The caustic chemicals are easily rubbed onto sensitive skin (like the youngster’s mother’s udder or other calves!), and in wet conditions they can be washed down the face, causing painful burns.
• The risks generally don’t justify use of caustic pastes for disbudding.

• Another method of disbudding calves is by amputation using a metal scoop.
• The disbudding scoop is a special instrument designed to gouge out the small horn bud and its base.
• There is bleeding, more chance of infection than with cautery disbudding and it is a painful procedure.

• For the animal’s sake, disbudding is best carried out by a veterinarian using a gas or electric cautery iron with appropriate pain control (a strong sedative, pain killer and/or anesthetic).
• The few dollars extra per calf or kid is a small price to pay for a painless and relatively stress-free procedure with a quick recovery and no complications such as infections.
• Employing a vet also means that castration, tagging and any minor surgical procedures like removal of extra teats can be carried out painlessly at the same time.

• It is much more humane to disbud calves than to dehorn older cattle. The greater size and strength of older animals make them much more difficult to restrain for dehorning, there is more bleeding and a greater risk of infection.

• It is very common for young male sheep, goats and calves to be castrated, because castrated animals are usually easier to manage from the age of puberty, i.e. from about 6 months of age.
• Don’t castrate if you don’t have to do. For example, there is no need to castrate lambs that are destined to be killed before they are 6 months old. But of course you should make sure that they are kept separate from females from about 4 months of age  just in case.
• It goes without saying - castration is very painful unless it’s done skillfully.
• The most humane option is to have the procedure carried out by a veterinarian using sedatives, pain killers and/or anesthetics; although many farmers consider that the costs of this make it impractical.
• Most castration of ruminants is carried out by the farmer owners, and it is best for the animal that the least stressful procedures be used and carried out while the animal is very young.
• For castration of lambs, kids and calves, the most humane method is application of a custom-made rubber ring to the neck of the scrotum with the appropriate applicator, preferable while the animal is 7 to 10 days of age and definitely before it is 6 weeks old.
• Surgical castration, ie cutting the scrotum and pulling the testicles out, is another option.
• Surgical castration is a painful operation unless it’s carried out by a veterinarian using pain control.
• Keep surgical instruments clean and disinfect them between animals.
• Surgical castration is more traumatic than use of rings and there is more risk of complications like infections, so it is generally not a good method for lifestyle farmers to use.
• The risk of infections like tetanus is reduced if the mother of the animal has been fully vaccinated against clostridial diseases.
• The older the animal, the more potential there is for the operation to be painful and stressful.
• It is illegal for anyone except a veterinarian to castrate animals of any species other than sheep, goats and cattle

Hospitals in TN
Milk Cooperative Societies
Slaughter Houses
Sandies in TN
Animal Welfare Organization