Post by DostThouHaveMilk on Apr 29, 2009 9:43:01 GMT -5
Here is a series of pictures showing how we burn calves here at Journey's End Jerseys. Up until last year the vet assistant disbudded our calves for us. I grew up watching them being burned and holding them on occasion. When I bought my X50 disbudding iron for the goats (with the goat tip) it just made sense that I would burn our calves as well. We had to wait for almost a year before we had any heifer calves to burn, so I am still learning as far as calves go.
My friend from Cambridge was visiting to learn how to burn kids and so we were able to get a good series of pictures with three of us there to do the deed.
The calf in question is a 7/8 Jersey, 1/8 Norwegian Red heifer born in mid-January. We burned her on 2/9/09. Her horn tips were easily felt.
I use a Rhinehart X50 with the goat tip for both my goats and my calves. It is best if the calves are burned within the first month, though I burned some of the beef cross heifers last year at closer to two-three months old and only ended up with one scur.
I allow my burning iron to heat for at least 30 minutes. I want it glowing red hot before I burn anything. The hotter the iron the faster it is over with. We have taken to restraining our younger calves in our goat stand for burning. The vet assistant usually just straddled the calf and had it pushed in a corner. Whatever you do, you want it to be solid.
Before beginning.
Getting her horn area shaved. My friend has a blade sharpening business and so she clips everything. For the pictures this made sense so you could see the buds. I do not normally shave the calves heads when I burn. I go more by feel. When the bumps are high enough they will usually hold the iron fairly well in place.
All shaved. If you look closely you can see the horn buds.
You want to get a solid hold of the head and pull it to one side. You can see the iron to the left there. It has the goat tip on it. The insert says the tip should be removed for burning calves and the larger round surface used, but it is overkill. The tip, as long as the bud is still small, is sufficient and doesn't cover as large a surface.
Press firmly down for a couple of seconds. You can rock it around to be sure and cover the entire area. I hold the ear to the side to avoid burning it. The amount of time a person holds the iron on varies. Some say 5 seconds, some say more. I hold it down for a couple of seconds and then remove. I do more shorter sessions and others do fewer longer sessions. I figure I'm less likely to do much damage if they are shorter sessions. I try not to rush too much. I would rather the first burning session be the only one needed. The calves have a thicker skull than the goats.
On older calves you may need to pick/flick off the horn itself. I usually remove the top portion and laying the iron sideways burn flat across the top to kill any remaining horn tissue.
On the first side I went all the way to the skull accidentally. She was fine, because I hadn't been holding heat to her head for very long. As I mentioned I am still perfecting when and how. I was looking to remove more of a horn bud, since with goats with that size horn I would have needed to.
Burning the other side
A good solid, copper ring. This is what you are looking for. You should have a solid copper ring all the way around. At this stage, I only flicked off the top and did a flat sided burn and left it be. I wanted to wait to post to be sure that the second side was all that was needed for a successful burn.
All done. There are various aerosols on the market to put on after you have disbudded the calf. I use Furall but it is not longer being made from what I understand. A number of people have moved to Alumishield (sp?). Something to cool down the head and prevent infections.
A few months later and clearly we were successful.
You may be able to pick up a numbing shot from your vet. Or you can give the calf a dose of Banamine (also a vet prescription) to administer for pain control. You can also have a bag of ice available to put on the head to cool it down. We don't use any of those. I want it done and over with as quickly as possible to minimize the stress on the animal. After the first burn or two the nerves are deadened. It is still heat near their head and they will still not enjoy it. I have burnt myself a couple of times in the process.
It is best if they can either return to momma or have a bottle/bucket of milk waiting after the ordeal to help soothe them. They recover quite quickly and are no worse for wear afterwards. Bouncing and returning to normal within the hour or so.
Far better than having to dehorn older animals.
My friend from Cambridge was visiting to learn how to burn kids and so we were able to get a good series of pictures with three of us there to do the deed.
The calf in question is a 7/8 Jersey, 1/8 Norwegian Red heifer born in mid-January. We burned her on 2/9/09. Her horn tips were easily felt.
I use a Rhinehart X50 with the goat tip for both my goats and my calves. It is best if the calves are burned within the first month, though I burned some of the beef cross heifers last year at closer to two-three months old and only ended up with one scur.
I allow my burning iron to heat for at least 30 minutes. I want it glowing red hot before I burn anything. The hotter the iron the faster it is over with. We have taken to restraining our younger calves in our goat stand for burning. The vet assistant usually just straddled the calf and had it pushed in a corner. Whatever you do, you want it to be solid.
Before beginning.
Getting her horn area shaved. My friend has a blade sharpening business and so she clips everything. For the pictures this made sense so you could see the buds. I do not normally shave the calves heads when I burn. I go more by feel. When the bumps are high enough they will usually hold the iron fairly well in place.
All shaved. If you look closely you can see the horn buds.
You want to get a solid hold of the head and pull it to one side. You can see the iron to the left there. It has the goat tip on it. The insert says the tip should be removed for burning calves and the larger round surface used, but it is overkill. The tip, as long as the bud is still small, is sufficient and doesn't cover as large a surface.
Press firmly down for a couple of seconds. You can rock it around to be sure and cover the entire area. I hold the ear to the side to avoid burning it. The amount of time a person holds the iron on varies. Some say 5 seconds, some say more. I hold it down for a couple of seconds and then remove. I do more shorter sessions and others do fewer longer sessions. I figure I'm less likely to do much damage if they are shorter sessions. I try not to rush too much. I would rather the first burning session be the only one needed. The calves have a thicker skull than the goats.
On older calves you may need to pick/flick off the horn itself. I usually remove the top portion and laying the iron sideways burn flat across the top to kill any remaining horn tissue.
On the first side I went all the way to the skull accidentally. She was fine, because I hadn't been holding heat to her head for very long. As I mentioned I am still perfecting when and how. I was looking to remove more of a horn bud, since with goats with that size horn I would have needed to.
Burning the other side
A good solid, copper ring. This is what you are looking for. You should have a solid copper ring all the way around. At this stage, I only flicked off the top and did a flat sided burn and left it be. I wanted to wait to post to be sure that the second side was all that was needed for a successful burn.
All done. There are various aerosols on the market to put on after you have disbudded the calf. I use Furall but it is not longer being made from what I understand. A number of people have moved to Alumishield (sp?). Something to cool down the head and prevent infections.
A few months later and clearly we were successful.
You may be able to pick up a numbing shot from your vet. Or you can give the calf a dose of Banamine (also a vet prescription) to administer for pain control. You can also have a bag of ice available to put on the head to cool it down. We don't use any of those. I want it done and over with as quickly as possible to minimize the stress on the animal. After the first burn or two the nerves are deadened. It is still heat near their head and they will still not enjoy it. I have burnt myself a couple of times in the process.
It is best if they can either return to momma or have a bottle/bucket of milk waiting after the ordeal to help soothe them. They recover quite quickly and are no worse for wear afterwards. Bouncing and returning to normal within the hour or so.
Far better than having to dehorn older animals.