Some More On Horny Goats........

Hehehe!  Get yer mind outta the gutter!  I'm talking about HORNS you goose!

I'd like to note that all the goats in these pictures have been sold and no longer live here with us!

Notice IE's tipless horns......

After this post a commenter asked me why we disbud, and if horns weren't natural.  I'd like to address this now. 

Yup, horns are more natural, but there are so many unnatural things  we do with goats that for me the horns just can't stay.

It is not natural for us to fence a goat in, it is not natural for us to milk a goat, and it certainly isn't natural to make a pet out of one, but we do and there is nothing wrong with it.  However when you fence a goat in, milk a goat, and keep a goat as a pet, horns can cause you lots and lots of problems.

  Goats learn how to use their horns quickly and they will use them on you and on other goats.  Ever since Tommy came here with his glorious set of horns, my girls have not worn collars.  It's too easy for Tommy to hook them under the collar and perhaps drag them to death or break their necks.  Tommy tries to hook me all the time, but so far I've been too fast for him.  He has gotten me when I've had to wrassle him, but not bad, just a bruise.  I've heard and read many the horror story of goats killing other goats, many times by accident.  I've heard of does ripping the bellies out of their kids with their horns.  As kids get older and the doe wants to wean them she will let them nurse for a bit, then she will butt them off with her head.  Well a goat with horns can really hurt her kids badly doing this.

You can't do this with a horned goat!!

A horned goat is a danger to themselves in fencing.  There is nothing more attractive to a goat than the grass, brush, or browse on the other side of the fence.  Unless you have hot wire all the way around your entire goat pasture your goats will be sticking their heads through to eat the grass and weeds on the other side.  If that goat has horns, they usually can't get their heads back out.  If you don't find them in time, you could come back to a dead goat, hanging from the wire.  

A horned dairy goat will have a more difficult time getting her head in the stanchion, and you won't enjoy lovin' on her nearly as much as her disbudded sister, cuz when she rolls her head back in ecstasy as you scratch her butt, she's gonna get you with her razor sharp horns!  One of the wethers we had that I botched his disbudding loved to rub his head up and down the back of my thighs and my butt.  This was actually a really nice massage, except his horns would hook me!  Tulip does this to me and it's great because she has no horns.

Disbudding is a personal decision and one each individual goat raiser should make.  In keeping livestock there are many, many things we must do that seem harsh, but in the long run they are so much better for the animals and humans involved.  Disbudding is quick and I can tell you from my experience doing it that the babies are just fine as soon as it's done.  They run over to momma, get a slug of milk and are back to bouncin' round with their siblings and cousins within minutes. 



Click this to see the disbudding scars bigger, but keep in mind that it didn't work!  As a matter of fact, you can see that the right horn bud is already growing.



Homestead life isn't all roses and chocolates.  Real homesteading is harsh at times, but that just makes the good all the sweeter!

God Bless.............