Pain sensitivity and injury associated with three methods of disbudding goat kids: Cautery, cryosurgical and caustic paste

Abstract Pain sensitivity and skull/brain injury associated with cautery, cryosurgical and caustic paste disbudding were evaluated in goat kids. Kids (reared for meat; n  = 280) were randomly assigned to one of four treatments ( n  = 70 per treatment): (1) sham-handling (SHAM) or (2) cautery (CAUT), (3) cryosurgical (CRYO) or (4) caustic paste (CASP) disbudding. A pain sensitivity test was carried out 15 min pre-treatment and 1 h post-treatment. Skull/brain injury was assessed at post-mortem examination. Kids with evidence of injury to the skull/brain, as well as a random sample of kids ( n  = 15 per treatment) without evidence of skull/brain injury, were selected for histological examination of brain tissue. Average daily gains (ADG) were calculated from body weight measurements taken 10 min pre-treatment and then at 2, 7 and 14 days post-treatment as a measure of the potential effects of pain or injury on growth. CASP and CRYO kids displayed higher pain sensitivity post-treatment than CAUT or SHAM kids, suggesting that they experienced more acute pain 1 h post-treatment. One of 70 CAUT kids had a perforated skull, but there was no histological evidence of brain injury in this animal; a further nine CAUT kids exhibited hyperaemia of the skull. The other treatments did not result in injury to the skull/brain. There was no evidence of a difference in ADG across treatments. Caustic paste and cryosurgical disbudding resulted in greater acute pain sensitivity than cautery disbudding; however, cautery disbudding has the potential to cause skull injury if performed incorrectly.