Dehorning Adults
When facilities are available, general anesthesia will
make dehorning of the adult goat more pleasant for the
surgeon. However, under field conditions when no one
but the owner will be available through recovery from
anesthesia, sedation with xylazine combined with local
nerve blocks is an acceptable alternative. Depending on
the size of the goat, 2 to 3 ml of 1% or 2% lidocaine is
injected for each nerve block, as described under disbud-
ding. There will be no anesthesia to the mucous mem-
brane and periosteum lining the horn, however, and
supplemental sedation is advisable with older goats (16).
The author finds a dose of 0.06 mg/kg xylazine intra-
venously suitable. Larger doses of xylazine (up to 0.1
mg/kg) have been recommended by others (17), but the
associated risks are greater. Recovery will be delayed,
and supplemental heat may be necessary to avoid
hypothermia in cold barns in the winter.
Hair is then clipped widely from around and between
the horns. It is helpful to outline the desired skin inci-
sions with an indelible felt-tipped marker before scrub-
bing and disinfecting the skin. This ensures that the two
incisions made will be of the same proportions. Except
that a narrow strip of skin should be left intact between
the horns to speed healing, at least 1 cm of skin should
be removed all the way around (17,18). Even more skin
must be removed rostrally; the entire base of the ridge
that rises to the rostral-medial corner of the horn should
be included. If local analgesia is being used, this is an
ideal time to administer xylazine.
A scalpel blade is used to cut quickly full-thickness
through the skin all the way around the horn and to
undermine the caudal flap of skin. The person sawing is
positioned in front of the goat. An assistant now holds
head and horn firmly while obstetrical wire is slipped
around the horn and seated in the incision on each side
of the horn and under the flap. If the horn is not held
back during sawing, the frontal bone may splinter. If
sedation is not deep enough or too much time has
elapsed since xylazine administration, the goat may
vocalize or try to rise as the wire passes through the cen-
ter of the horn. A flat-backed dehorning or miter saw
can be used in place of obstetrical wire to remove the
horn (19). When the first horn is off, the major artery
(superficial temporal) situated laterally should be
pulled, ligated, or cauterized (18,20). Cotton or gauze is

When the first horn is off, the major artery
(superficial temporal) situated laterally should be
pulled, ligated, or cauterized (18,20). Then an electric dehorner or firing iron
can be used to cauterize smaller bleeders. Blood clots
should be carefully removed from the sinuses and an
antibiotic or disinfectant powder or spray applied.
An owner who watches the dehorning of an adult
goat for the first time will be impressed by the quantity
of blood shed and the size of the holes left in skin and
skull by the surgery. This is an excellent time to mention
how much less stressful disbudding is than dehorning. If
the owner does not observe and great efforts are made to
clean up the goat and bandage its head, the owner may
be left with the false impression that dehorning is nor-
mally postponed until goats mature.
Cosmetic dehorning of adult goats reduces the risks
of sinusitis and myiasis, especially in warm climates
(21). The technique is most applicable to animals with a
small horn base. The skin is incised 1 cm from the base
of the horn. Skin is then undermined and pulled away
from the horn to permit slightly deeper placement of the
obstetrical wire and facilitate subsequent skin closure.
After the horn has been removed, hemorrhage is con-
trolled and the surgical site is flushed to remove bone
dust and blood clots. An antibiotic powder is dusted
into the frontal sinus. Skin closure is achieved with hori-
zontal mattress tension sutures placed well back and
simple interrupted sutures at the wound edges, using
nonabsorable suture material. General anesthesia, post-
operative penicillin for 5 to 7 days, and bandaging for 10
to 14 days until the sutures are removed are all advised.
It may not be possible to close the incisions in goats that
had very large horns.
Elastrator bands are not recommended for dehorning
goats. It is difficult to keep the band in position on skin;
if it slips upward, the tip of the horn falls off but growth
continues at the base. For a mature doe's horns to fall
oft, 6 to 8 weeks are required; pain may be intense dur-
sng much of this time. Also, the risk of tetanus is
increased in unvaccinated animals.
Some owners request removal of only the horn tips,
to avoid the pain and prolonged healing time associat-
ed with complete dehorning. A radiograph will identi-
fy the extent of the horn sinus and bony cornual
process. Vascularized corium extends slightly farther
into the horn than the bone, and the horn should be
transected distal to the corium. If there is no radi-
ograph to guide the surgery, then small sections of
horn are sawed off, working in from the tip, until a
satisfactory length is obtained or a few drops of blood
are observed. Xylazine tranquilization simplifies the
procedure.
Postoperative Care
Antibiotic therapy is normally not necessary but
should be instituted if the goat develops anorexia or
t-ever.
Bandaging
Whether the older goat's head should be bandaged
will depend on many factors. If the animal is to be trans-
ported home in a compact car, a bandage is certainly in
order. One is likewise needed if bleeding cannot be con-
trolled by pulling arteries and applying cautery. If the
goat will be fed from an overhead hay rack, the bandage
will keep hay out of the sinuses. On the debit side, any
bandage that extends under the jaws is apt to make eat-
ing and rumination painful. Sinusitis may develop
unnoticed under the bandage, and a dry scab cannot
form until the wounds are left exposed to the air. Many
dehorning wounds heal well without any bandage.
If the decision is made to bandage, many options are
available. One possibility is to hold the wound dressing
in place with a length of orthopedic stockinette (17); eye
holes are cut after the two ends of the stockinette are
taped around the goat's head and neck. Also easy to
apply is a 2- or 3-inch wide elastic bandage (Elastikon,
Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N.J.) over a nonad-
hesive dressing; the first turn of tape around the head
extends onto the skin rostral to the dehorning wounds
and the second turn comes up behind one ear, then
extends forward to the forehead between the eyes.
Notches are cut in the tape to uncover the eyes and per-
mit free movement of the eyelids. After 1 or 2 days, the
"chin strap" (portion of the bandage below the level of
the eye and ear) should be removed to lessen the tug on
the wounds during chewing. The remainder of the ban-
dage can be removed after 1 week. Continued use of a
fly repellant is appropriate in warm seasons. Final heal-
ing of the wound typically occurs in 6 to 8 weeks,
though even more time is required for large bucks.
Sometimes when mature bucks are dehorned, the large
holes that are created never close (5).
Tetanus prophylaxis
The practitioner should never dehorn a goat whose
tetanus vaccination status is unknown without adminis-
tering tetanus antitoxin (TAT): 250 to 300 IU to a kid and
500 IU to an adult. Death from tetanus can occur before
antibodies are produced in response to an initial vacci-
nation. Tetanus toxoid and antitoxin can be given simul-
taneously, as long as different syringes and different
injection sites are used.
If the goat is known to have been vaccinated with tox-
oid (not antitoxin-many owners don't understand the
distinction) then a booster dose should suffice. It is good
policy to administer (and record in writing) a dose of
tetanus toxoid or tetanus-enterotoxemia vaccine at the
time an appointment is made for future dehorning of an
adult. This permits giving the second dose in the series
at the time of surgery. When the vaccination is a booster,
maximum protection from a rise in titer will be achieved
for surgery.