Horn disbudding of kid goats is common in dairy and meat production but causes acute pain without analgesia in most operations, representing a preventable and significant welfare problem.
Goat kid disbudding without analgesia causes acute intense pain that is measurable through behavioural and physiological indicators including vocalisation, head shaking, and elevated cortisol. Without local anaesthetic, kids experience the full pain of thermal tissue destruction during the procedure. Post-procedural pain persists for hours to days without analgesic treatment. The tools to prevent this suffering are inexpensive and widely available — local anaesthetic nerve block plus post-operative meloxicam represents a minimal cost intervention that substantially reduces suffering. The welfare case for mandatory analgesia during goat disbudding is strong.