2 year-old Nig. Buck's SCURS growing toward his skull

If you're gonna cut them, be ready with the blood stop.

It sounds a little late to band them.

Exactly how, I can not help with. I'm sure someone else will chime in here too.

 

I have two bucks with this prob. I will be interested to see what people say. I thought about banding but thought you had to wait until they quit growing.

 

I purchased a Nigerian buck a couple of years back that had this same issue. I used a wire saw and took off about an inch and a half of scur. I was fortunate that it just missed the vein and it only "wept" blood (a little furall spray and was good to go).

If you choose to take them off completely, I would have your disbudder handy and RED hot, as you will need to cauterize the blood (it will squirt!). Not sure if blood stop would handle it or not.

 

Try this site for banding horns.

http://www.greatgoats.com/articles/dehorning.html

 

:yeahthat That's exactly what I was thinking.. Maybe if you could take enough of the tip off to keep it from going into the head while you get a band on it? I think a band would work if the horn base wasn't too big. Or, you could just cut & burn...

 

My buck's scurs were doing exactly the same thing a few months ago. I had already made an appointment to take him into a vet (because I had no clue how to take them off). A friend offered to help and came armed with blood stop. He pulled out the wire saw to start on them and when he started sawing, they both just popped off! Not even any blood at all. Of course they were a bit wiggly and loose, so I'm sure that helped. I was just glad it wasn't quite as traumatic as I thought it would be.

DH built me an oversized milk stand just for my buck, for handling things like feet and scurs. Most of the time it's just one more thing he can climb on in his yard, but for times like this it comes in handy.
Kathy

 

I'm sure this has been answered before but in order for banding to work don't the horns have to quit growing first?

 

Do horns ever stop growing?

 

Just did this Sunday to a 3yr. old Saanen buck. Both scurs were large and had flattened back against his skull. I keep telling his owner (a vet) that I'm giving him disbudding lessons next time I'm out there!
I used DH, wire saw, and disbudding iron. The wire saw will cauterize some as it gets pretty hot and smokes. Then use the disbudding iron to stop any seeping. ( :blush Ummmm...ok, I will tell you that in elective surgeries like this...if you will watch the signs (zodiac) and do it with the signs in the thighs,knees or feet...there is less bleeding.)
Remember to have him up to date on tetanus and depending on how much you take off, (if you open the sinus passages) banamine.

You can considerably slow down the growth of scurs by doing a MAJOR wire saw cut (usually opening the sinus cavities) and then burning the edges of your cut to a copper color. Kind of like a disbudding, again. But, it can take a couple of years of cutting scurs back and burning. :sigh They never stop growing unless you kill the cuticle.
Kaye

 

We have a buck with this problem that we resolve by cutting the tip off of twice a year. We never cut off enough to make it bleed but it does keep it away from his head. We purchased a round blade from Lowes that fits in a hacksaw frame.

This has worked well for us.

Jolene

 

Kaye,
When we did my buck's scurs, we did it by the signs. No blood whatsoever. There's something to that, for sure.
K

 

I have a buck with this problem. It is really not a big deal, except that when his scurs start getting too long, he hooks his pasture mates plastic collar. What seems to work well, and is not tramatic to him is to either stick his head between my lets, facing forward, (might not work well at all with a less laid-back buck) or into a milk stand, and then I take my really good horse hoof nippers and nip them back a little at a time. Sometimes he jerks his head and the whole thing will pop off, but it WILL grow back. Sometimes it does bleed a little, but it's not much. When he pulls or knocks the whole thing off it does bleed more, but never severely. I've thought about banding them, and I may eventually, but his scurs are really not a problem except when they get longer than about 1 inch and get hung in his buddy's collar. Keeping them trimmed on a timely schedule is key. Just another quick thing when I do his feet.
anita

 

Can a buck be shown with scurs?

 

Yes, bucks or does may be shown with scurs, but I have seen animals moved down in the line for the other animal being "cleaner about the head". This was only one judge, years ago tho.

 

It lists scurs in the guidebook as slight to serious defect depending on severity.
Somewhere I keep getting a measurement but I can't find it in the guidebook.?? LOL...it might also be one of those "I heard it" popping up. :blush
Kaye