It’s a really small window you get, then, to disbud.
Disbudding is a really delicate process, and if you attempt to do it too late in the goat’s life, you will be causing enormous pain and distress for no real reason.
Let’s look further into this.
When should I disbud a goat?
Ideally, you should disbud the goat within the first 7 days of its life.
This gives you the best chance of actually, properly disbudding the goat, preventing the formation of horns rather than just amputating what has developed.
Most disbudding happens within the period of 4-14 days.
Some breeds of goat tend to have very rapid development, and thus it may be the case that you need to disbud as early as possible.
However, you should never disbud before the kid is 4 days old.
The shock can be too much, and alone can be enough to kill the goat.
On the other end, goats with slower development might be fine up to a couple of weeks after being born.
Some may need 10-14 days before they can be disbudded.
However, you should never disbud any later than 14 days.
You stand, again, a really good chance of doing serious damage to the goat by dehorning rather than disbudding it.
Around 7 days is going to be the ideal sweet spot for most goats, then.
Can I disbud a 3-week-old goat?
No, you can’t.
Flatly, there is no way you’re going to be able to curtail the development of horns on a goat that is 3 weeks old.
If you apply a disbudding iron to a goat of that age, all you’re really going to do is cause immense pain and distress, and damage their horns which will continue to develop anyway.
3 weeks is far, far too old.
As I said, at the absolute oldest you should disbud at 14 days.
There is really no goat anywhere that should be disbudded at any later stage than this, and certainly not at 3 weeks.
Consider whether you really need to disbud the goat at all.
The process is painful and stressful, can cause shock and even death.
While it is, for some, justified on the basis of handling needs, for casual goat pet owners, it is really rarely necessary.
How long does it take to heal from a successful disbudding, then?
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How long does it take a goat to heal from disbudding?
As you can imagine, the process of disbudding is quite a damaging one.
Using a hot iron against a still sensitive part of the goat’s anatomy causes major injury, even if the intended effect is achieved.
In general, it will take the wound around 7 weeks to fully heal.
Wounds are very painful during the healing process, and some are trying to strategize ways to make the process less painful.
Your goat is going to be healing from its disbudding ordeal for close to two months, and perhaps longer.
It depends on the kind of goat and how well the procedure went.
If your goat is still showing signs of pain and discomfort after 8-9 weeks, consult a vet as soon as you can.
The problem could be getting worse.
How much does it cost to have this done, then?
How much does it cost do disbud a baby goat?
It depends.
Generally speaking, vets will not carry out this procedure.
It’s not something that is considered to fall within the remit of veterinarians anymore, though it once was.
Even in the past, it was generally something farmers did themselves.
Whether you can find someone to do it for you at all, then, is the big question.
Sometimes, experienced handlers will offer such a service, and will carry it out for around $5-$10 per goat.
Often, though, they will only come out to do bulk jobs.
It won’t be worth their while to only come out to do one or two goats.
As you can see, then, generally disbudding is considered a DIY activity.
This is another reason you should reconsider doing it.
You stand a high chance of injuring your goat if you’ve no experience disbudding goats.
So, it is going to depend a little bit on a couple of factors.
Different breeds develop at different rates, and this will mean slightly different windows for being able to disbud.
However, the overall difference is really negligible, and you should consider the 14-day mark as the absolute cut-off for any breed.
Indeed, ideally, you would disbud the kid before they’re even this old.
Consider the goat’s welfare above all.