Disbudding is one of the most important — and often misunderstood — parts of raising goats, especially if you want a safer herd and fewer management headaches. Whether you’re a first-time goat owner or a seasoned breeder frustrated by persistent scurs, this comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know to get it right the first time.
Table of Contents
Why Disbudding Is Important for Goat Herds
Disbudding, when done properly, permanently prevents horn growth in young goats. Horns can be dangerous to handlers, other goats, and even the horned goat itself. Goats may get caught in fencing, injure their herdmates during play or conflict, and cause serious damage during transport.
Disbudding eliminates those risks — but only if it’s done effectively. Otherwise, you’re left with scurs: those awkward, sometimes painful regrowths of horn tissue that come from incomplete bud destruction.
The Science Behind Horn Growth
The Anatomy of a Horn Bud
Horn buds form shortly before or just after birth. Under the skin of a young goat’s head are specialized cells located in a thickened area of the epidermis. These cells differentiate into bone-forming and keratin-producing tissues, which give rise to the horn’s bony core and outer keratin sheath.
The horn bud is attached to the skull by a bony base — a region where the developing bony core will eventually fuse with the frontal bone. The surrounding tissue contains blood vessels and nerves that nourish the growing horn. Destroying all of these components before they fully develop is essential for successful disbudding.
Why Goats Get Scurs
Scurs are incomplete or malformed horn regrowths. They’re often loose, irregular, and not fused to the skull like a full horn. Though typically not dangerous, they can cause problems — especially in bucks, where they can grow aggressively and unpredictably.
Common Causes of Scurs
- Incomplete horn bud destruction: If the disbudding iron doesn’t penetrate deeply enough or misses parts of the bud.
- Delayed disbudding: Waiting too long gives the horn bud a head start.
- Skipping the center burn: Failing to remove and cauterize the horn bud cap can leave the most critical cells untouched.
- Male hormones: Bucks are more prone to scur regrowth due to the effects of testosterone on horn tissue.
The Ideal Time to Disbud
Timing is everything when it comes to disbudding. Too early, and it’s hard to know exactly where the horn bud is located. Too late, and the horn bud becomes more difficult to destroy completely.
- Nigerian Dwarf and miniature breeds: 3–7 days old
- Standard breeds (Boer, Nubian, Alpine): 5–10 days old
- Bucks: Often need disbudding 1–2 days earlier than does
If you can feel a small raised bump (like a pencil eraser) on the top of the head, that’s your sign the bud is ready.
Waiting beyond 2 weeks significantly increases the risk of scurs, especially in buck kids.
Step-by-Step Disbudding Guide to Prevent Scurs
What You’ll Need
- Disbudding iron (1/2″ tip recommended, even for Nigerian dwarf kids)
- Clippers to shave the horn bud area (so you can see the area to be burned)
- Disbudding box or helper to restrain the kid
- Board or wood to test iron temperature
- Optional: pain management (lidocaine or NSAIDs prescribed by a vet)
Prepping for the Procedure
- Restrain the kid securely in a box or held by an assistant.
- Clip the hair around each horn bud.
- Heat the iron until it glows cherry red and burns wood on contact.
Disbudding Technique
- Burn the bud:
- Center the iron over the horn bud.
- Apply gentle pressure for about 5 seconds.
- Lift the iron from the kid’s head and check to see if there is a copper ring where you burned.
- Repeat until you see a complete copper-colored ring.
- Remove the cap:
- Use the edge of the iron to flick off the center portion of the horn bud, which is skin.
- This is where the highest concentration of horn-producing cells resides.
- Burn the center:
- Apply the side of the iron to the exposed area left behind after removing the cap.
- Look for copper coloring here as well.
- Special step for bucks:
- Burn a second half-ring just in front of the original one (closer to the nose).
- This targets the extra growth zone bucks often have due to testosterone.
- Repeat on the other side.
What NOT to Do
- Don’t skip the center burn.
- Don’t burn for too long — stick to 5–7 seconds or less. When in doubt, burn for less time. You can always do another burn if you don’t have a copper ring yet.
- Don’t delay past 2 weeks.
- Don’t forget the extra front burn for buck kids.
- Don’t apply ointments or creams to the burn site afterward — dry healing is best.
The Research: Why Complete Burn and Cap Removal Matters
Studies show that burning only the ring around the bud (without removing the central cap) leaves behind viable cells capable of horn regrowth. In one trial:
- Kids with ring burn + cap removal: 77% success rate
- Kids with ring burn only: 0% success rate, many developed soft “scorns,” which are attached to the skull like horns rather than attached to the skin like scurs which are wiggly.
The best outcomes occur when both the copper-colored ring and the center bud tissue are fully destroyed. This combination prevents regrowth and greatly reduces the risk of scurs, especially in bucks.
What If You Still Get a Scur?
- Monitor it — many break off on their own.
- Trim if growing inward or causing pain.
- Surgical removal is possible, though rarely needed.
Final Thoughts
Disbudding is both an art and a science. It’s not just about “burning the bump” — it’s about understanding what tissue to destroy and how deep to go. Proper disbudding eliminates the risks associated with horns and minimizes the likelihood of scurs, especially when you:
- ✅ Disbud early (especially in bucks)
- ✅ Burn both the outer ring AND the center
- ✅ Remove the cap and cauterize underneath
- ✅ Use a secondary burn for buck kids
- ✅ Never let the procedure go past 2 weeks of age
Done correctly, disbudding results in smooth, horn-free heads — and a herd that’s safer for everyone involved.
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We tried our first disbudding. The vet says we missed a spot on the buck so we need to do more today. He said it just looked charred and not copper. Question: is the copper colour supposed to last into the next day? I basically burned until it appeared copper but it didn’t really stay long.
Hi Kimberly
I’m not familiar with the color changing. If you observe a copper ring, you should be good.
That being said, bucklings in particular, are harder to do completely successful disbuddings on, and are more prone to develop scurs.
Tammy
What about disbudding in the summer? Will flies and maggots be a problem or do the burned buds heal up before that is an issue? Recommendations for a fly ointment?
Hi TM
The freshly burned area should be dry with no blood. It’s not an open wound, so flies are not attracted to it.
After a few weeks the dry ‘scab’ area will fall off. In my personal experience there is only a small amount of blood with some- it really depends if it naturally falls off or is prematurely knocked off, but this tends to dry and scab/heal fairly quick as long as they are not re-injuring it.
Tammy
Can I return an edge of the horn I missed? Goats niw 4 months old. Seems I missed outer edge of horn on both sides of a buckling. I’m nit sure if I can return. They aren’t that long but feel attached to skull.
Hi Sandy
At 4 months they are much too old to attempt any sort of removal on your own. At this age, you will need to have a vet involved, but even veterinary removal can be risky, painful, and hard to heal.
~Tammy
I have four does that are three months old and is naturally polled. I took them to a local vet here in Mississippi and had my girls disbudded and my one doe got disbudded and she had leakage and on two different occasions she was playing with her sister thats 6 lbs and she was 3 lbs but she never got knocked in the head as I watched them play, well she would shake her head all twisted motions like she was having a seizure. So I called the vet and the receptionist proceeded to tell me that happens at times it’s normal but I knew in my heart something was off. Well she told me the scurs may grow back well long and behold hers did so we went back and done it again and poor girl for the THIRD time they came back!! By this point I am furious so I searched for another vet for a second opinion because now I had a SECOND baby with horn scurs growing. Here in Mississippi we have ZERO experienced vets and much less finding one who even sees goats and if they do they say and do nonsense things!!! So we went this second opinion vet who I seen before and definitely didn’t care for well he said the other vet disbudded too soon 2 weeks old and he can try to remove them but no guarantee because they were grown to wide out at this point even though I watch and waited for scurs to grow to catch them ASAP to have them removed. He said they can POSSIBLY get them cosmetically removed but we have to wait a little longer and see how they grow a lil more!! In my experience of watching MANY too rated farm channels they disbud at a week old or right or if they dont feel horn buds and they uncertain they wait no longer than another week MAX so how can it have been too soon!! No I call that inexperienced!! So now I AM NOT WAITING I am calling for this THIRD opinion vet which is my last vet resort and praying they can surgically remove them. I am very frustrated and upset about this situation.
Hi Flora
I am a little confused. If the goats are naturally polled, why were they disbudded? Polled goats do not grow horns.
If a horned goat is to be disbudded, two weeks IS NOT too early. In fact, I disbud some of my bucks when they are just a few days old if their buds are growing fast. And all of my goats are typically disbudded between 5-10 days of life. After that it becomes increasingly difficult to do the job effectively without causing damage to the kid.
Scurs should not need to be surgically removed. They are mainly cosmetic and will typically break off or fall off on their own as they grow. In my experience, the more times they get knocked off, the less they grow back.
I hope this information is helpful. ~Tammy
What’s your recommendation for a buck’s horn removal at 8 months due to disbudding failure?
Hello
Does he have a horn or a scur?
At 8 months of age, a true horn cannot be removed without great risk of complication and much pain for the animal, even though it is done surgically by a veterinarian.
A scur is not connected to the open sinus the way a horn is and can be easily removed if needed. But most of the time they end up knocking them off periodically.
Here is more info about scurs~
Tammy
https://thriftyhomesteader.com/scurs-in-goats/
I have a blind 5 week old baby girl. I was told to wait to see if she even lived. Now she is healthy and happy, except she has np concept of her horns. what would you recommend for dehorning her for her safety as well as ours?
Hi Toni
At 5 weeks of age, horns cannot be removed without great risk of complication and much pain for the animal, even though it is done surgically by a veterinarian.
Tammy