Boer Goat's Horns Not Growing

[waddles99]

Hello, I have had my boer wether for 7 months now, and his horns dont really seem to be growing that much. They definitely are getting bigger but not at a really fast rate. He was born April of this year. I have never had a horned goat before so i don't know if this is normal? I just want to make sure he is healthy. He gets plenty of hay and maybe even too much grain haha!

 

[sourland]

I don't know a great deal about goats, but I would guess that his low levels of testosterone is limiting horn growth. Chickerdoodle13 is lurking - perhaps she has the answer.

 

[enola]

When a male goat is castrated at an early age, his horns will be the same size as a female's horns.

 

[waddles99]

Sex doesn't really have anything to do with horn size, both of his parents were on site when we bought him and they both had reasonably large horns. The other wethers, who have "limited testosterone" at the farm have nice large horns. He just isn't growing them as fast.

 

[sourland]

Sounds as if you have the answers.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Sex does have something to do with it, as does the fact that he is a wether. It takes a lot longer for does to grow their horns to full size and a wether would have a similar pattern. He's still relatively young, so I wouldn't discount that as a possibility.

Genetics also plays a role. If he's healthy, at a good weight, and otherwise normal, it is probably not something to worry about, but it's always worth having a vet check him out next time they visit your farm for something.