True plywood, not waferboard or OSB is a lot stronger. I have to chime in, goats like to butt things if they are bored, playing or irritated. Horned or dehorned won't make much difference. Sophie is not one to do it usually, Sugar rarely does. Bo will RAM his head on the steel livestock trailer just out of being a stinker if he isn't fed first..So he is fed LAST. All are horned so there is a horn scraping process they go thru also.. main cause is boredom. The days they are not tethered they are unhappy, but once the pasture is expanded I expect that will improve also.
Horns are an extension of the scull and are very rigid like bone. Its like a scull cap beneath the skin. Very sharp usually and they do use them in social activity, even the does spar and play. Main thing with horned goats is raising by hand if possible early on, a firm NO pushing chest away for unacceptable actions. Do not handle the plate the horns come in at, or the head. Ears, neck, nose and chest rubs or the body, legs feet are good, and helps when trimming hooves later on too. Pushing, rubbing or head contact on a goat, even dehorned encourages butting. I used to rub Bo's head a lot, he loved it! Big mistake, he will butt anyone that isn't watching him close. Hard lessons to learn.
Dehorning does help, some.. I have had fatal stray dog attacks here and will not remove their defenses. We have had coyote in the past so my goats need them. Horns are a great tool in handling a larger goat too, gives you an extra handle to grab LOL. My Bo is pretty impressive when he stands looking at you with his huge horns
And thankfully we have not had any further loss of kids or adult goats here.
Horns are an extension of the scull and are very rigid like bone. Its like a scull cap beneath the skin. Very sharp usually and they do use them in social activity, even the does spar and play. Main thing with horned goats is raising by hand if possible early on, a firm NO pushing chest away for unacceptable actions. Do not handle the plate the horns come in at, or the head. Ears, neck, nose and chest rubs or the body, legs feet are good, and helps when trimming hooves later on too. Pushing, rubbing or head contact on a goat, even dehorned encourages butting. I used to rub Bo's head a lot, he loved it! Big mistake, he will butt anyone that isn't watching him close. Hard lessons to learn.
Dehorning does help, some.. I have had fatal stray dog attacks here and will not remove their defenses. We have had coyote in the past so my goats need them. Horns are a great tool in handling a larger goat too, gives you an extra handle to grab LOL. My Bo is pretty impressive when he stands looking at you with his huge horns
