# do you have to dehorn



## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

Im scared to do this. My billy goat had his horns. Never had a problem with his horns that i can remember (bad memory 20 years ago lol). all the digging banding burning and paste just scares the crap out of me.


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## goatmarm (Nov 19, 2005)

No, you certainly do NOT have to dehorn. I espescially wouldn't try to attempt to de-horn a mature buck. The pain involved just wouldn't be worth it.
The only time you HAVE to have goats w/out horns is in the dairy goat show ring. Many folks will also disbud goat kids so they will not get horns possibly stuck in fences or causing bodily harm to each other and children by accident. It is really a personal choice. 
Disbudding is really the worst part of raising kids, but at least it is over within a few seconds. If you think you want hornless animals, it is best to disbud the kids(@1 wk.) before the horns really start growing.


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## dosthouhavemilk (Oct 29, 2004)

In some places *all* goats taht are shown have to be disbudded or dehorned (or have scurs under a certain length).
Our county fair (last I knew) would allow horns on pygmies but none on any other goats (they have a meat class but no Boer classes).


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

I don't dehorn. I raise pygmies. I do have a dehorned doe that gets bullied. I bought her dehorned. My advice is either get all dehorned does or get all horned. I have never had a serious problem with the horns. My oldest horned doe used to get stuck in the fence alot till she learned how to get herself out. This can be remedied with the right fencing or by taping a peice of pvc pipe to thier horns. I preffer the look of horns on a goat and think that disbudding and especially dehorning sounds more than a tad cruel, IMHO. I do think that if you have large goats and small children you should probably either raise the horned goats from babies around your children and train them especially not to use thier horns, or to get disbudded babies. I suppose it's a matter of preference.


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## dosthouhavemilk (Oct 29, 2004)

I never answered the OPs question. Sorry about that.
This is my stance. The kids born to our does are my responsibility. What they face in life is also my responsitbility. Therefore all kids (even those that will end up meat) are burned at a young age. We've been burning calves for decades. I've seen what cows do to one another. I've seen what goats do to one another.
The biggest thing is this. I watched as three mature (talking 5+ year old) goats had their horns sawed off with OB wire at the vet's office. We had 2 month+ old doelings and a wether there being done (also had to be sawed at that stage as well). We used to leave horns on anything we didn't plan on keeping. Let the new owners decide. That was the last year.
It was horrible! Give me the 10 sec or less it takes to burn the buds and it be done with for their entire life!
Say I left horns on my goat, and the next person to own the goat didn't like horns. What do you think they are going to do? Probably have them removed one way or another.
I figure, if someone really really wants our genetics in their herd they can buy the disbudded goat and leave the horns on the kids.
I had a sick doe stab me just below my eye socket. Not her fault in the least. She had Listeriosis and I was picking her up to move her. I get stabbed by does with horns lifting there heads up to look at me when I pouring feed into troughs. I've watched as a horned doe lifted kids by their collars and sling them around. I also spend time at least once weekly removing horned goats from our fencing. There are only four does on our farm with horns. Two are too big to get stuck. One is almost to the stage where she can't get her head through but this is about the worst stage as well because it is even harder to get them out. It is so bad one of her horns is broken. She must have snapped the tip off trying to get out of the fencing. The last one is just a yearling. It is going to be probably another 3-4 years before I can rest easy and her horns be too big to get stuck. She's the one that was flinging kids earlier this year.
And when it comes to housing in the winter for kidding? Each horned doe generally needs her own pen (Sammie can stay in with her hornless dam though).
The risks just don't seem worth it.
Consider where your goats might end up (all for meat? Will you keep them?), how much space you have available (safer to keep disbudded goats in smaller confines than horned), and how handleable and calm your goats are or will be.
You might consider going the polled route but there are issues with that as well with hermaphroditism.
Frankly, I've seem lots of kids burned, lots of calves burned, and I've been burned by the iron myself. Yeah, it isn't fun for anyone involved, but it is quick and over with.
Here's Sammie with her broken horn;








I guess it isn't as obvious as I thought it was in this shot.
We currently have 80 head of goats on the place (with a polled Nubian buck visiting another farm)....4 have horns and one (a Boer doe) isn't our goat. She is a big nuisance! Very aggressive with the other goats.


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## Dee (May 12, 2002)

This is the first year that I dehorned and I was scared to death but it really wasn't that bad. I held for the vet and watched for a few years and read up on it so with a little prayer, I got it done.


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## homebirtha (Feb 19, 2004)

I tend to agree with dostthou... We disbud all our dairy kids, because I want to give them the best chance. I know if we don't disbud, there's almost 0 chance of anyone buying them, since they can't be registered, shown, etc. Now, we don't disbud our fainting goats, unless a buyer requests it before the kid is a week old. But most fainters are horned, so it's less of an issue with them. So, it really depends on what kind of goats you have.


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## Reauxman (Sep 14, 2002)

I had a buck that wasn't properly disbudded. I ended up banding his horns(he's a year old) recently and it worked wonders. I am thinking of going to banning everything instead of disbudding. 

dosthouhavemilk,
You can easily band the yearling doe's horns. My guy had a large base on one horn that worried me, but it was the first horn off!


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## littledoe (May 26, 2006)

Rooman...did you use the green bands for disbanding horns? I tried them. Very difficult to get them down to the base of the horn. I used the elastrator, but having no luck. Your advice would be much appreciated. 

I have a LaMancha/cross doe with full horns. She was given to me by a friend.
I'm thinking of regifting her :help: She seems fine in the pen, but I was scratching the side of her nose this evening and she kept dipping her head, like she was trying to butt me with those horns. I have four young children. I'm not sure it's going to be a good idea to keep her. Any thoughts, here?

Thanks,
Malissa


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## jtdl (Jun 14, 2006)

I have a pygmy wether with horns and have had absolutely no problems with his horns. I have taught my kids to stay away from his head, i.e. no bending down near his head etc. Nobody has been injured. I am going to pick up a Nigerian Dwarf with horns tomorrow. I had a hard time trying to find another with horns, as it seems almost every breeder disbuds them. I really don't understand why. If you take proper precautions and use common sense you should be fine - I really don't think the goats will attack! This particular goat has lived in a pen with nonhorned goats for one year and he is at the bottom of the totem pole. On another goat list that I joined and posted the same question, almost all of the replies are from people who own both horned and unhorned goats together and have very few, if any, problems. As for them being potentially dangerous - dogs can be potentially dangerous also, but their owners don't have all their teeth removed! I guess it is just a personal decision based on your own personal feelings regarding disbudding/dehorning, similar to making a decision on declawing a cat.


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## AllWolf (Dec 27, 2005)

Everyone has different opions on this me I would dehorn/disbud because goats are bad for sticking their head through fencing and could get hung up in the fencing and break their neck. I have never had that to happen to mine because no horns on mine. All my goats are dehorn another reason I do not like horns is because of small childern can get hurt or if you have a goat that is a big bully and they have horns they can stick a horn right through another goats side or stomach but it is up to you if you want horns or not. Now on a full grown goat I would not have them dehorn because it be to painful and may cause other damage to the head too. 

Good Luck on what you decide.


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## havenberryfarm (Dec 9, 2003)

I would dehorn. It only takes a few seconds. It really isn't all that bad to do. Do it when the bucks are 2-3 weeks old and does are 3-4 weeks old. If you are terribly concerned about pain, you can give 1/4 cc of banamine if your vet carries it. It takes the edge off. 

A couple of months ago I was leading my horned doe out to pasture. I had her by the collar. She heard a noise and startled, raising her head and hitting my hand with her horn. Now I have a broken bone in my hand. Tough to milk by hand with a broken bone. Not worth it, IMHO unless you have lots of wolves or coyotes around. It doesn't matter how gentle a goat is either. They cause injury all the time, just by accident. She is the herd queen and left some marks on one of the other does too. I had to separate them. Not worth it at all.


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## Reauxman (Sep 14, 2002)

Sorry, just saw this. 
Yes, I use the little green bands. I put them on the tool and go down as far as possible on the horn. Then pull the tool(while still open), away from the horn and slowl close it. It will then be to the point where there is the closed tool asnd the horn connected by the band. Slip the tool out of the band and then slip the band as far as you can down. I do not cut into the horn nor skull. I also didn't bother to shave the head, just gt the band down as far as possible. You won't see indentations overnight. It may take a few days, often weeks. Don't be afraid to reband, actually, I went through and put on new bands every 10 days until the horns were gone, as they dryrot easily. 




littledoe said:


> Rooman...did you use the green bands for disbanding horns? I tried them. Very difficult to get them down to the base of the horn. I used the elastrator, but having no luck. Your advice would be much appreciated.
> 
> I have a LaMancha/cross doe with full horns. She was given to me by a friend.
> I'm thinking of regifting her :help: She seems fine in the pen, but I was scratching the side of her nose this evening and she kept dipping her head, like she was trying to butt me with those horns. I have four young children. I'm not sure it's going to be a good idea to keep her. Any thoughts, here?
> ...


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