Horns or no horns?????

[debilorrah]

My goats don'thave horns and they are far from stupid!!!!

 

[Cara]

From someone who was dead-set against dehorning kids.... no horns. They are just too dangerous to watch out for all the time. The kids aren't mean, but they do have a tendency to flip out and it's just one more aggravation when i'm trying to handle them. The adult does can't fit their heads through our fencing either way (cattle panels welded onto pipe fence), but the kids can and do get stuck. I'm going to band them.

The buck has humungous horns and he's only eight months old. He is scary, I try to avoid going in the pen unless I absolutely have to. When I do I have DH come with me and either watch him or hold him. I would never turn my back on him. He's not aggressive, but he is very playful and not remotely shy. I tried handling him as little as possible from day one to keep him wary of humans, but it hasn't worked.

 

[aussieheelr]

only had 1 goat and he was dehorned, Togenburg. He was SMART! But only that 1 experance with a goat.
NOW I have cows and I'll tell you the only "dumb" ones were the ones with horns. Had a holstien we named "Special Ed" because he was just a dumb dumb bugger. Our heifer that sprouted horns over a summer and she was too smart. She started jumping fences... made her jump in trailer and go to the sale yard. Not chasing a dang cow everyday before and after work.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Thank you all for your input.

It was at the point that I asked this breeder if all her kinders had horns or not and that's when she made the statement 'I would NEVER burn my goats horns off - it makes them stupid and I don't want 15 stupid goats running around my place'. (that's how many goats she currently has and is selling some because she doesn't have time for all of them.

She then abruptly said 'well, good luck to you' - that I took to mean she wasn't interested in selling any goats to me.

I'm not looking to disbud or remove horns myself but looking to purchase a couple goats. I was curious to know if there was merrit to the breeders belief that removing or disbudding makes the goat stupid, as I'm leaning towards buying little ones that have been disbudded.

 

[Cara]

Horns or no horns she sounds nuts.

 

[TXmom]

Both of my goats have horns, and I think they ARE stupid.

I wonder if removing their horns would have made them smarter??? LOL

Actually, one is much dumber than the other...he gets his horns caught in the fence almost every day...and then cries and struggles to get out. And I go save his butt...every day. It's a good thing I'm always home! Finally, WE got smart and strapped a big stick to his horns...now he can't get his head through the fence. He hates it, but he hasn't been stuck in DAYS.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

That's funny TXMom -

Got any pics?

 

[cassie]

Horns simply are not an option here. They can injure each other or us, but more importantly horns get caught in our fences. If a goat gets caught in the fence in the summertime and we don't find it in time it is dead because of heat exhaustion.

 

[la dee da]

Quote:
What's wrong with using a box and what's with the ice? Sorry I've never heard anything negative said about using a box and also never heard of using ice

.

 

[TXmom]

~*Sweet Cheeks*~ :

That's funny TXMom -

Got any pics?

Actually I do have pics, cause my hubby was having too much fun with the stick. Give me a minute to upload from my camera...

I also agree that horns HURT...even when you're hit by accident. I have had several ugly bruises and scratches from the horns, and my goats are not at all aggressive. I get hit by mistake, or it's my fault...but it still hurts.​