Data from: Sensitivity and wound healing after hot-iron disbudding in goat kids
Data files
Jul 07, 2026 version files 487.94 KB
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Disbudding_Goat_Kids_2017_Dryad.xlsx
480.86 KB
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README.md
7.08 KB
Abstract
Hot-iron disbudding in goat kids causes acute pain and tissue damage. However, the duration of healing and wound sensitivity is unknown. We assessed wound healing and pain sensitivity in 18 female dairy goat kids disbudded with a heated iron at 10 d of age (range: 5–15 d). Pressure algometry was carried out twice a week from d 1 after disbudding to determine the mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT) in 4 locations on each bud (front, lateral, caudal, and middle). At the same time, digital and infrared images of the wounds were used to visually and thermally describe the healing process. Wounds were visually scored daily for the presence of 7 tissue types: attached necrotic tissue, detached necrotic tissue, burns outside the necrotic ring, exudate, granulation, crust, and epithelium. All data were taken until epithelium was present for 4 consecutive days. Necrotic tissue detached completely from the scalp 26 ± 5 d after the procedure (mean ± SD; range: 17–43 d), and wounds took 50 ± 8 d (35–63 d) to re-epithelialize. Wounds were more sensitive at all stages of the healing process compared with re-epithelialized tissue. The caudal and middle locations were the most- and least sensitive test sites (1.24 ± 0.10 and 1.90 ± 0.10 N, respectively; mean ± SE). Goats became less responsive to stimulation as their wounds decreased in size. Sensitivity did not differ between left and right sides of the head. Maximum surface temperature of necrotic tissue, when present, tended to be higher than that of epithelium (38.8 ± 0.2 vs. 38.1 ± 0.2 °C); temperature did not differ among other tissue types. Our results indicate that hot-iron disbudding wounds in goats take, on average 7, wk to re-epithelialize (35–63 d) and are painful throughout this time, raising additional welfare concerns about this procedure.
This repository contains the data used to conduct the analyses and create the figures referenced in the paper of the same name.
📄 Study Overview
This study aimed to:
- Characterize wound healing at horn bud sites in dairy goat kids following disbudding with a hot iron
- Assess changes in mechanical nociceptive thresholds (MNT) at the horn bud site over the weeks following disbudding
- Assess changes in horn wound surface temperature measured by infrared thermography (IRT) over the weeks following disbudding
Subjects:
Eighteen female dairy goat kids (French Alpine: 10; La Mancha: 6; Saanen: 2) born between April 4 and May 10, 2017, were included. At the time of disbudding, kids were 10 ± 3 d old (mean ± SD; range 5–15 d) and weighed 5.1 ± 0.6 kg (range 4.1–6.5 kg). Each kid contributed two observations per test session (left and right horn bud).
Disbudding procedure:
Kids were restrained in a wooden disbudding box and horn buds were cauterized using an electric dehorner (Rhinehart X-30). Two dehorners were used, one per bud, to avoid temperature loss between applications. The iron was applied with circular movements and light downward pressure until a copper ring of cauterized tissue was present; the cauterized bud was not removed. Iron temperature was recorded immediately before first contact on each bud using an infrared thermometer. No pain relief was provided. One experienced operator performed all procedures.
Data collection:
Data were collected from April to July 2017 at the UC Davis Goat Facility, University of California, Davis. MNT and IRT were assessed twice weekly starting the day after disbudding. Wound healing was scored by direct visual observation daily. Data collection continued until a layer of new epithelium had been present for 4 consecutive days. The right horn bud of one kid was excluded from analysis due to early horn regrowth that prevented wound healing.
All procedures were approved by the University of California Davis Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC protocol #19767).
🔗 Related Works
The wound-healing data from this study are also analyzed in a companion paper that examined left-versus-right (laterality) effects on cautery disbudding wound healing across three disbudding studies. In that paper, the present goat kid study is labeled Experiment C:
Iron and laterality effects on healing of cautery disbudding wounds in dairy calves (Adcock et al., 2019, J. Dairy Sci. 102:10163–10172).
📁 Files and Descriptions
Disbudding_Goat_Kids_2017_Dryad.xlsx
- Description: Excel file containing MNT measurements, IRT wound surface temperatures, wound healing scores, and disbudding procedure details. Each row represents one MNT test observation at a specific anatomical location on a specific horn bud on a specific test date.
- Data are contained in the "Data" sheet" and metadata are defined in the "Data Dictionary" sheet.
- Dimensions: 4,318 rows × 31 columns (excluding header row)
- Missing value code: #N/A
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
Kid |
Animal ID (ear tag number) |
Side |
Horn bud side tested (Left / Right) |
DOB |
Date of birth (yyyy-mm-dd) |
Breed |
Breed of goat kid (FA = French Alpine; LM = La Mancha; Saa = Saanen) |
Weight_disbudded_kg |
Body weight at time of disbudding (kg) |
Date_disbudded |
Date of disbudding procedure (yyyy-mm-dd) |
Age_disbudded_d |
Age at disbudding (days) |
Test_date |
Date of MNT and IRT test session (yyyy-mm-dd) |
Days_disbudded |
Days elapsed since disbudding at time of testing |
Time_iron_s |
Total duration of disbudding iron contact across all applications (s) |
Times_iron |
Number of iron applications per bud |
Iron_temp_C |
Disbudding iron temperature at first contact, measured by infrared thermometer (°C) |
Disbudding_time |
Clock time of disbudding procedure (HH:MM:SS, 24-hour clock) |
Necrotic_attached |
Attached necrotic tissue present at wound (0 = absent, 1 = present) |
Burns_outside_copper_ring |
Burns present outside the copper ring (0/1) |
Necrotic_detached |
Detached/lifting necrotic tissue present at wound (0/1) |
Exudate |
Wound exudate present (0/1) |
Granulation |
Granulation tissue present (0/1) |
Crust |
Crust present at wound (0/1) |
Healed |
New epithelium present at wound (0/1) |
Test_order |
Order of MNT test administration within a session (1–8) |
Location |
Anatomical location of MNT test (Lateral / Caudal / Middle / Front) |
Vocalize |
Animal vocalized during MNT test (0/1) |
Weight_at_test_kg |
Body weight at time of testing (kg) |
Wound_size_mm |
Wound diameter at time of testing (mm) |
Latency_heal_d |
Days from disbudding until wound scored as healed (new epithelium present) |
Latency_peel_d |
Days from disbudding until necrotic tissue began peeling |
Latency_detach_d |
Days from disbudding until necrotic tissue fully detached |
MNT_N |
Mechanical nociceptive threshold: algometer force at withdrawal response (N) |
Rate_N_s |
Algometer force application rate (N/s) |
Max_temp_C |
Maximum wound surface temperature measured by infrared thermography (°C) |