Using this easy to build kid box relieves much of the difficulty associated with tattooing and disbudding of young kids. Now we have to come up with a way to keep the goat from simply refusing to stand and collapsing while they have their ears pierced. Rope, straps and a custom made wooden tray come to mind immediately. Inventive breeders should be able to come up with a method of restraining a goat's head once it's captured in the head piece of a fitting stand. This frees up both of your helper's hands to restrain the goat from the neck down. This usually results in perfectly acceptable tattoos but you now have two humans covered with tattoo ink and your helper will assuredly have many tiny hoof-shaped bruises on their legs.Īn improved form of restraint is the use of a "fitting/milking" stand. The helper holds the kid down on their lap using one hand and restrains the kid's head with the other while you apply the tattoos. One method of restraining a young goat during this procedure is to have a helper sit on an up-side-down bucket or raggedy old lawn chair and lay the kid across their knees on it's stomach. All this is done, preferably, without you and the goat becoming completely covered with tattoo ink. And tattoos are usually applied to both ears. After you load the tattoo pliers and catch the goat you have to hold the goat still while you clean the ear with alcohol, let it dry, apply the tattoo ink, apply the tattoo, apply more ink, sprinkle on baking powder and scrub the tattoo ink and baking powder into the tattoo holes - you also get to stop any bleeding that occurs from the tattoo holes and reapply ink as necessary. Dip the tag and end of pliers in alcohol (or other disinfectant)Īpplying tattoos, however is a bit more difficult. Load the tag pliers with the correct tagĢ. Applying ear tags is an easy chore (once you get past procedure 3, below)ġ. To most breeders identification is provided by means of ear tags and/or tattoos. If we had needed to disbud kids we sure would have used the kid box - can you imagine trying to disbud a kid with a hot iron while you or someone you like/love restrains the squirming goat's head, their hands an inch or less from the hot iron? We produced over 550 kids at our place and never had the need or desire to disbud or dehorn one of them. Goats are disarmed by removing their horns and removing the ability of those horns to grow back. Said goats have to be properly restrained during identification and disarmament to prevent injury to them or to you. ![]() ![]() That means they have to be identified and disarmed. There are things you have to do to convert them from "wild" goats to domestic livestock. Then comes the work - blaah! The new little critters aren't there for your amusement only. I love kidding season! All those new little critters running and jumping around, learning about their big, wide world.
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