Goat with Horns - Should I get it?

[gila_dog]

My 3 wethers were disbudded when they were babies by the dairy where I got them from. But the job was done poorly, so all 3 have pretty bad "scurs", which are horn scraps that look pretty bad. If I had it to do over I would take them to the vet or something to have the job done right. I prefer no horns. But I think it's too late now for yours. One thing I've heard is that if one goat has horns they should all have horns. That way nobody can be a bully. (An armed society is a polite society).

One other thing. I have read from some pretty reliable sources that you shouldn't wether them until they are sexually mature (about 7 months). That's so their urinary equipment is fully developed. This will make it much less likely that they will have problems passing urinary stones later in life. Urinary Calculi (UC) is a major hazard for wethers.

 

[kstaven]

Urinary Calculi (UC) is a function of diet.

Bucks are fully capable of impregnating a doe by 3 months.

 

[helmstead]

In a perfect world, you can wait as long as 7 months to wether, but it is perfectly safe to do it at 8 weeks of age (which most of us have to do to keep them from breeding their family). Gila is totally correct about wethers and UC...it's a constant threat. Ammonium chloride should be fed to wethers to prevent it. We've even lost a 5 month old buckling to UC back when we didn't know better than to feed sweet feed without AC.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Thanks for the info. I did talk with my Vet and she said that wethering around 5 or 6 months is good, but she also said that UC is mostly caused by diet. She said just like people with their dogs and cat, we want to be loving and kind, but too much sweets and not healthy treats can cause problems.

I was thinking about contacting the lady who has goat #2, just born last week and ask her to not debud him.

 

[Haviris]

If you really don't want horns you can always band them later on, and if you were going to do that you could go ahead and get #2 disbudded so you'd only have one to band.

I disbud my kids, unless a buyer requests that I don't, but I personally have never had much of a problem w/ my horned goats. And I have both horned and non horned running together, I've never had a bully problem.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Thanks again for the info. I have decided to hold off on Goat #1 (with horns) and get two from the Lady that has the week olds kids. She has 3 mothers who have kidded in the last week and two more to kid in the next couple of days. Her goats are so tame that when my boys and I walked in their pen last evening all of them just walked up to us. My boys were able to hold and play with the babies and they were invited to come any time they want until we bring two home.

This Lady, I have known for years and really trust. The main reason I liked goat #1 was because of his color.

Thanks again. Your information and thoughts are greatly appreciated. I will post a picture of the babies this weekend. We plan to go back and see them. They are less than 1 mile from our house.

 

[gumpsgirl]

My DH absolutely will not dehorn goats because goats are pretty defenseless animals to begin with. If you take off their horns, then you are taking away their only defense. As long as you are going the whether route, you shouldn't have any problems. The whethers are supposed to be great pets!

 

[augiedranch]

Quote:
i work at a vet clinic and a UC effects not just wethers. but billys and nannys too. but wethers are more prone to it and there is too much that can be done. if a billy gets it then they usually run a catheter up him, and dislodge the stones, then castrate him..

but a wether... usually doesnt get better