It is just about time for our herd to give birth to lots of babies here on the farm! With that comes the decision to either disbud the kids or leave them to grow horns naturally; a choice we have already made for our herd here. Disbudding is the practice of burning off the horn "buds" within the first 2 weeks of a goat kids life. I will discuss the pros and cons of this practice and also talk about whether you can keep goats with horns in the same area as goats without safely.
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I agree 100%! No goats born on our property are ever disbudded either. One thing to add about horns being a useful tool for the goats, is that they use them to scratch itches they cannot get to any other way on their backs. One of our goats who is disbudded still tries to scratch. It is so sad to watch her try and be unable to. So we scratch her back for her when we can.
You have a great interaction with all of your animals. They all are comfortable around you and happy to see you!
Thank you SO much. I am researching and want to get goats, and thought disbudding was a requirement, but it makes me sick, and I don't want to do it. It's such a relief. People say the horns get caught in fences, but I think they have the wrong fence if that is the case. You're awesome. Thank you!!!!!
Well.. When we finally get to a farm. I WILL NOT DIS-BUD. Thank you for all this very important information.
In farming and gardening especially there is a lot of stuff that you "have to" do. But a lot of it is not necessary or even not beneficial in my experience.
I’m new to all of this but a lot of these seem to be things that would absolutely be helpful with a huge commercialized herd with 100+ goats and minimal actual care
I two have cats. Yes, they scratch up my furniture and the end of my bed has seen the wrath of their claws. I've been told lots of times I should declaw them so to save my furniture. I tell them I'm not declawing the cat's because of they're scratching the furniture. They're just doing their natural thing I'll work around it. Same thing with goats they have horns for a reason you don't like the horns; don't have goats.
Exactly. And the even more frustrating part is there are polled (naturally hornless) goats, and being polled is the dominant trait if they are going to be bred. It's entirely selfish and unnecessary.
I have a Saanen and a British Alpine buck, 3 large does, 6 cross Saanen/British Alpine does and doelings and 5 wethers, all with horns. I can walk in amongst the herd (bucks kept seperate) and only have to worry about my feet being stepped on. I don't believe in dehorning and truly love the look of their horns, especially my bucks (which are just over 24" long).
Great video! I've always wondered why that was necessary, especially when you see the ones that go wrong. My sister has an aggressive goat and his horns help you hold him back from hitting you. Thanks for sharing.
They do make great handles
Thank you so much for this information. I was contemplating disbudding. I did not want to do it. You made me feel better about not moving forward with it!
I'm sooo happy I saw this video. Thank you for your insight, it seems almost every video I see , people disbud their goats. I dont think I could do it, because first if all it's so sad, and cruel. Were building our goat barn right now and I'm trying to decide before we buy our girls if I want to disbud our future babies. Thank you, thank you.
I'm getting a couple of doelings in the spring and I've been debating whether I want to disbud or not. For me I'm thinking I'm going to keep my goats horned. I'm just concerned I'll have a hard time selling future kids if they're not disbudded.
@@zoebossie1653 yes that's my concern. All my goats i have now ate disbursed. I have a doe due next month and I'm still under
@@zoebossie1653 Yes, I bought my two does from a breeder and the breeder's goats are registered & they are show goats(The breeder shows, not me). I told her I honestly didn't want to disbud our kids after they are born and she said if I don't disbud the goats they will be worthless(speaking of selling prices) and only worth meat price if they are sold with horns. It's sad because #1 I've seen them being disbudded and I think it's horrible(I don't think I can do it). #2 I want my homestead to be organic and that includes my animals being how God created them to be, but seems the market disagrees. She said if they are not disbudded they will probably be worth $150 but if you disbud them the same goat can go for $300-$400. So I still have to decide what I'm going to do because I can't keep every kid that is born on our homestead. I mean I'm not in it for the money but my concern is that nobody will want to by my kids with horns and then I'll be stuck with all the kids our Does have 🤔. The struggle is real 😔🙏🏻
I agree 100 percent with everything presented in this video concerning disbudded goats....I prefer leaving them in they're natural state. I thought I was losing my mind discussing this with these breeders, and show people. THANKS! I JUST SUBSCRIBED TODAY
I agree completely. The reasons for dis-budding have never been valid enough to justify the process or the loss of and extremely important organ of the goat. Leaving horns and dealing with them rationally makes the most sense and pays respect to the animal.
I don't have a problem with people who decide horned goats are for them, but after raising a few with horns and having one kill two of its pen mates (in a huge pasture / pen) we have decided horns are not for this farm. It's a matter of choice and what will work for each individual. I personally think it's safer for our family to keep dehorned animals in our situation.
Totally understand, there are different circumstances and breeds and it is up to your situation and farm to make that decision
Exactly my doe had its neck broke when she got caught under the bucks horns.
@@pladner6053 , I had to watch as one of my favorite bucks was hammered in the side repeatedly until I could get into the paddock to pull him to safety. All I could think of was it was my fault for keeping a horned animal. Then he went after my other buck who was way bigger and had a massive set of horns. Took him out, too. No more for me. I learned my lesson the hard way.
Me too. I was all about keeping the horns on them until that happened. She was my favorite doe too.
@@SSLFamilyDad Surprised you didn't quote the Bible verse at the end card about Abraham spotting the ram caught in a thicket by its horns (Gen 22:13). I guess that was a male Sheep though. And is the cold / snow stunting the wheat germination?
for many goats their horns help disipate heat, if yoy debud they have nerve issues and cause more damage always rubbing their heads against things because of nerve issues
I have had both horned and disbudded goats and I noticed they both rub their heads on me when I would enter the pasture. I did some research and found that goats have scent glands on the top of their heads near where their horns are (or would be). They sometimes will rub their heads on people and objects for the same reason cats rub their faces on us. They are marking the objects as territory and their people as family. I will say that it is possible that some goats who are disbudded suffer nerve damage like you suggest. The deaths mentioned in the video usually happen when the handler holds the iron on the kid’s head for 5 seconds too long. Non fatal brain damage can also happen if you hold the iron on there for less time. The reason is you are essentially “cooking” the brain just like an extremely high fever would do. This is why I believe it’s crucial to know EXACTLY what you are doing if you do the procedure. I’d recommend watching a veterinarian do it many many times first. I have also had both bottle fed and non bottle fed goats. The bottle fed were of course dairy breeds and the non bottle fed were Pygmies. The non bottle fed goats never rubbed their heads on me affectionately. They did however butt my shins to get me to drop the bucket with feed in it on a daily basis. I personally prefer goats either bottle fed or raised with close contact with humans as opposed to being raised exclusively by their mothers with no close human contact for this very reason.
🤦♀️ they rub their heads with horns or without because they gave large scent glands in the top of their head. It has nothing to do with horns or no horns
This was so helpful! Adopting some wethers this spring, and I wasn’t feeling confident in my request to keep their horns. Thank you for the reassurance and education!
I'm so unsure on horned vs disbudded I see and understand both sides. Horns can be far more dangerous in a safety aspect
So sorry to hear about your accident and injury. Hoping you feel better as soon as possible. Everyone loves you, stay strong Sir. You are not alone.
I can see that with dwarf breeds it isn’t necessary but I’ve had a full sized buck that could really hurt you with his horns because yes they definitely can use them against you. I would use the banding method on bucks and let the girls keep theirs. My goats get jealous of each other and sometimes I get caught in the crossfire. Its just one less thing I have to worry about when I’m handling them on a daily basis. A horn to the face can seriously hurt and things can happen even if you’re being careful. I’m thinking it would probably affect sales if ppl raise them to sell.
Thank you for this info! I have seen "disbudding" as a human convenience and not necessarily for the goats benefit but just didn't have the right words to describe why. You have provided the clear and concise words I was looking for.
I really like and appreciate your channel. It's great to learn from you, or even just to see a different way. Thankyou for all of your videos, and especially your Sunday worship.
Praying for you Todd!!! Get better soon. Wish we lived closer so our family could help out with your chores. Prayers of healing to you!!
What happened to Todd.
I am so proud of this video and your knowledge. Finally someone with brains 👏
I really enjoyed you petting your goats. ♥️
Thank you , thank you I thought I had to but the thought of hurting them was too much to bare. Bless you sir❤️
Thank you for being considerate of your animals. Something as cruel and painful as burning holes in a baby goats head should at least have a better reason than simply human convenience
Exactly. I can't believe people do this
@@Sblue23 Yes, and the way its always framed as "better for the goat"... it surely isn't. Horns help keep them cool by dispersing heat, and they are very important for their normal social interaction. I feel sorry for dehorned goats. We have 3 large breed goats with horns, they never give us any issues and they look awesome
A very informative and interesting video today! Thank you
Thank you for this advocacy!
We had the same problem with our ND Buck's horns. The breeder tried to burn off horns when he was very young and they grew anyway and started to grow into his skull so we had to have a vet put him under and remove his horns again. Now we have Boer goats and don't de-horn the goats. Our buck has huge horns which sometimes get in the way but we sometimes use them as handles to control him.
Helpful video. Had been told debudding is necessary. Glad to hear this approach is possible as well.
sorry to hear about your accident! hope you get better soon!
Very informative video, than ks for sharing.
I was planning on making an appointment with the vet to get my two doelings horns removed... Not burned. But this video has changed my thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
This was so helpful. Thank you
Great video! Thanks for this
They are so friendly. I always imagined goats being more shy.
This was very helpful thank you
I’ve never even given thought to the horns. I assumed they had them or they didn’t. Holy cow I didn’t know people did this on purpose! Yes. I’ve heard of it, but thought there must be a good reason for it and it would be painless. Not so, eh? Thanks for the education!
Thank you so much for this video!
Thanks for sharing, lovely dog,
Good info. Thank you!
Well, I fell down the rabbit hole at KZhead and FB and found you . We're in the same area code, and believers too, so I have been looking around and see there is a need for prayer. I'm on it and will be watching for updates. May God bless you all.
Thank you! Doing better today but going to take awhile before I am back to working
Good information. Thank you
Thank you for the wonderful homesteading video about goats, very informative. It looks really painful to de bud the goats. And if there are perks to keeping the horns that why should we. God bless you and your homestead thank you for the information.
Horns are part of a goats heating and cooling system. Should never be removed.
What about polled goats?
@@clydegreene1127 👍
To Molly D. To each his own, kinda like circumcision imo.
@@clydegreene1127 I was wondering that I definitely have noticed my polled goats are a lot more uncomfortable then my horned goats
Good info. Hope you are feeling better. God Bless. ~Mike and Ester~
Excelente video!
Just saw another video with this one family and the girl was holding one of the younger goats and the woman filming mentioned that she had been de-budded. Didn’t mention why. I didn’t even know people even did that, especially knowing how it’s done. And the pain the goat must feel. Would never remove their horns. Glad I found this video! Gives insight on it.
Glad I found this vid. I was just off reading some breed classifications and seeing that horns are "undesirable".. And I thought, says who? I like them.. Goats seem to like them. That's a win win. I'm just going to assume the people who write these rules are not fun at parties.
In the UK it has to be done by a vet with the goat under sedation and with a local anaesthetic. It surprised me when I found out anybody can do it over there.
I love your common sense attitude & agree! As to the comments below that some of them had aggressive animals with horns that killed others...it's not the horns that did, it it's the aggressive animal that needed to be culled or put into a different environment before killing the others or after. The same thought should be for animals with fangs, claws, tusks, bulk of pure size ...having been chased by cattle, bucked off, and stomped on by horses...do you remove their hoofs or claws or fangs? Nope. But if you want to sell your goat kids to 4H show people you have to dehorn or offer a vet to remove the purchased kid. I wish the show circuit would offer horned category & it would solve everything.
They use their Horns for scratching hard to reach itches too, lol
My niece has a Male goat with a similar issue. His grows so wonky she has trim the end regularly or the horn grows into his eye.
Hello, just found your channel and love it! My husband and I are looking into starting our own Nigerian dwarf goat herd soon. I was wondering if you have a video on/or could film one about body score and how to check that. I know how to do that with horses but not goats. Thank you for your time!
We use to have a herd of Dairy goats. We did burn horns for a couple of reasons. Just getting the goats in the stanchions for milking was a battle with horns. Keep in mind we were milking over 200 goats twice a day. Also we did have a couple instances where 1 goat would stab another with their horns. Just wanted to show that their are reasons to dehorn.
couldn't you just shave the horns down a little though, whenever you have the hoofs taken care of? I've heard some people say that the horns make them eaiser to manage because you can grab them by the horns
My strategy when it comes to animals, is they have their body parts for a reason, goats have their horns for a reason, Chickens have their spurs for a reason, and cats have their claws for a reason, and you shouldn’t take them away.
This was really helpful for me. I have been trying to figure out why people disbud their goats and I didn’t know if I had to or not. I feel that animals develop the way they do for a reason, and none of the goats I get will be disbudded if I can control it.
Best video on this subject! Thank you! I plan on taking my goats hiking, so no way would I take away their only method of defense. I’m going to visit a Kinder goat farm today. They disbud, so I hope they will make an exception for me on that. Then, though, will they let me return with horned does to breed? Or will I be able to find another Kinder farm that will? There are not many around, and all seem to disbud. I can’t find a single picture of a horned kinder online! But I hope to have some! Going now to watch your video on breeding goats for pets, to see if you cover what you do if the customers want them disbudded.
Enjoyed your presentation and your position on horns. I had my 2 disbudded so most likely will cont that. May or may not show. I agree why do show goats require disbudding? Heck I would give extra points for a "good rack" tho I think "rack" is for deer. I definitely have seen some amazing goat/ram etc horns such as on National Geo. When I made the decision I considered I live in an area with fairly temperate summers.
Thank you
Thank you for posting this. Whether or not to disbud should be left up to the individual owner.
Well i have never thought about raising goats. However great information if I ever do. I don't think one should take away from how God design them to be.
So you would never cut a stud that’s mean or a cat that sprays???
My ND doe got her neck broke by getting caught under the bucks horns. Because of that and the fact that they were constantly getting caught in the fence, I will only get disbudded goats when I do get back into goats.
I have an opinion of... they should have those horns. We should never take away a natural thing from animals just because they are farm animals. I don’t own goats and never have but it just seems wrong. I assume that the heat has to hurt them?! Thanks for sharing SSL Dad 😎
My sister had goats with horns. One of the goats got it's eye poked out while butting heads. It seems like there could be a bumper you could attach to each horn that would allow cooling the brain and also prevent injuries. Best wishes...
Bob Weglin -like smaller pieces of pool noodles or pipe insulation?
@@TrickleCreekFarm Great idea
Thank you for this, really didn't want to de horn.
Fantastic video and very thorough explanation. I wholeheartedly agree. Funny you mentioned not leaving your 2-year-old in with goats. I accidentally did this when I was building fencing, my two toddlers started running around in the goat house. The goats simply shuffled out and left the two toddlers alone in there. These are 130+ lb Spanish goats with big horns and they are just the sweetest. I agree with you that just because a goat has horns doesn't mean it will headbutt people. That's more of a behavioral thing and even if a goat is dehorned, they'll still headbutt a person if they want to only then the human won't have anything to hold onto to stop them. I have a bunch of bucks together and they do playfight and having the horns is a way for them to safely do that imo. It's obvious to me that the horns do add quality of life to the goats.
Thank you for this information on keeping horns on goats!!! Very informative -pros and cons. I have decided to not disbud or basically to keep the animals as nature “intended “ - not for the convenience of humans.
We very recently started raising dairy goats. We purchased 2 does in milk, which came with their combined 5 new bucklings. All from the same herd, and all with horns. We also purchased a disbudded doeling and a polled buck. The first time I tried to catch one of the horned does to take her to the milk stand, she hooked me under the jaw with one of her horns. I feel very fortunate that she didn’t use her full force, and I only came away with some bad bruising instead of a major injury. Several of the bucklings (6 weeks old or less and super friendly) are constantly hooking me wherever they can get their horns to hook on. Right now, while they and their horns are little, it’s more uncomfortable than painful, but I expect that will change. The second doe with horns is very aggressively chasing the new, disbudded doeling, and trying to hook/ram her with her horns, and in that way she has prevented the doeling from getting food. She also chases her around the pasture trying to hook/ram her. It’s a dangerous situation. I’ll be de-horning those does with castration bands asap, and buying one of those burning tools to disbud future babies. I’m sure there are plenty of people with different situations than mine, where it would be just fine to have goats with horns. For me, it’s too dangerous to have horned goats. (My horned sheep have been fantastic though, so they get to keep theirs!)
What breed of goats and sheep?
I agree 100%
I wonder if they make fun of each others horns or lack there of
I am curious whether it’s harder to sell horned goats?
Interesting video! I'd like to keep a herd of goats in the future but will look for polled ones. I do not live in a rural area and a horned goat would get into more trouble than is worth here.
We used to do the same thing with calves (disbudding). That is crazy that all show goats have to be dehorned!
It's the dairy show circuit not the meat, that requires dehorning :(
Some are polled it’s a genetic mutation so they don’t grow horns
Show goats need to be de horned casue if a goat gets loose it could hurt the other goats and makes it a little easier to handle them for show but if I didn’t show and weren’t in 4-H I wouldn’t de bud them I also have them around little kids so that’s another reason I de bud them
I am new to owning goats and one of the NGs that we purchased was pregnant. I too thought disbudding was “safer” for the goats overall and initially wanted to disbud the kid, but after watching the disbudding process, I couldn’t bare to torture the poor kid like that. So our little doe is now 2 months old and her little horns are growing naturally and I’m happy we didn’t go the disbudding route. Thank you for this video. I feel like I did the right thing. 🙂
Correct to show a purebred dairy goat they have to be hornless, meat goats have to be shown with horns. I hated disbudding and had to stop when arthritis got bad in my hands and though occasionally having to run out and rescue a goats leg that got stuck between someones horns, and be careful I get a lot of bruises on my legs they get excited at feeding time, and a stuck head in a cattle panel I still prefer them to have them
Keep a radio around for them and soft jazz apparently it reduces stress for goats
Very good I hate when I see goats being D horned.. They need their horns . their hornsd help to cool them in the heat and also keep them warm and the cold. They also need them for self defense. If you raise a go properly and respect their horns no need for concern. I have 8 Alpine goats with huge horns And have never had a problem.. So glad to see that you are treating them with respect and care!!😊
I saw debudding done and it is a horrible cruelty. The baby goats scream bloody murder and are traumatized. It's an ugly cruel practice. One YT goat farm said the put their hosts "to sleep" when the do the debudding but I wonder if the told the truth. Thank you so much for this great video and your compassion.
Its not very good to put the goat to sleep when you disbud, because sometimes when you put them to sleep the don't wake up sometimes, and its not cruelty the reason you disbud is for the safety of the animal and yourself, goats can their horns stuck in feeders and they can die. and they aren't aloud in shows if they have horns for the same reason.
The same issue arises with shoeing horses! People say you /have/ to shoe them - but, in reality - most horses don't need shoes!
I agree with that. It depends on their environment and where you ride them I suppose
Thank you for this video! I'm trying to decide what to do here on our farm. I lean towards the natural approach myself but I do intend to sell goat kids too. I'm trying to decide how to approach this for that reason plus my grandson wants to do 4H.
You will have to disbus the ones for 4h but you might be good to leave some with horns. Disbudded goats do sell a bit higher due to kids needing them for 4h
Thank you for sharing this!!! I wish there was a required class, taught by you, before anyone can call a goat a family member.... Unfortunately, here in Colorado Springs, that is not the case. Anyone in city limits can own two, with disbudding and sterilization being the requirements. But, with no guarantee on the success of the disbud- here I am with my 7 year old boy who has grown pretty thick scurs, and being forced by the court system to dehorn, or spend 198 days in jail!! I am hoping someone like you, or any of your followers can please give me any advice. I would do anything for my boy- even jail- but I will not put him through the pain and agony he endured ALREADY! Again, I love your videos, keep em coming!
Wave a Partition
I think I will only have my goat kids disbuded by a vet when they are going sold to another person but if I am keeping them to eat or breed from they will keep their horns.
That's my thought too. They're near impossible to sell with horns. I like the horns though!
We have had 0retty good luck selling this breed with horns but you are right, they can sell for more without horns
I beleive it has to do with the part of the country you are in California most small herds are disbudded as they are pets or for show. Many homesteaders in Tx. Ok. Keep horns. I respect people's choice. It only irritates me when someone writes (usually pro horn) that its nonnegotiable. Of course I feel that way about spay/neutering dogs n cats esp in the city. Says Leslie the one who tries to see both sides. Also I wouldn't pay a vet to disbud, they often have less experience and its expensive. OTOH I didn't vet the person that did mine and they have scurs of sorts. Cant see em but they are there.
Hello loved the video! How is your pallet wood barn in the video is secured to the ground? Or does it just sit on too? Ty.
Sits on top of cinder blocks
Thanks for the response. I didn't realize you made videos on them till now. Are you worried at all about the wind flipping it over? The reason I'm asking about the pens is because I'm making a compost holder out of pallets and we get pretty good gusts here. Have a great rest of your day.
These things are super heavy, not going anywhere. I also pointed the opening east and north a little so the wind generally does not blow right in them
Your new pallet shelter looks very cozy. When will the new baby goats be staying with all the others out there? Do you have a stall in the barn for birthing?
Just had three babies last night! We will be moving everyone all around into stalls and the barn
It’s electrocautery. Larger goats get their heads stuck in fences repeatedly, getting them out is a pain. Yes goats can be aggressive. I’ve had personal experience with such. The child was older. You have a small breed, no problem. But what you have seen is not true of all breeds. We had proper fencing was still a problem. You just like the horns, you don’t like the removal process I get that. Until you’ve raised a larger breed you have no idea what a pain they can be. You can train a goat to collars. I love the milk goats many are naturally polled and big enough to prevent them from getting stuck in a fence.
I have a large breed with no problems. If a animal in its natural state is a danger for someone then that isn’t the animal for you. It isn’t necessary to alter.
We also don't run bucks w does 24/7.. to many issues and I see you have more than 1 buck in there so how do you know who sires are?
Thanks to this video I managed to convince my parents to not attempt to dehorn or disbud our goats. Thanks a lot!
Are the goats without horn more friendly and gentle? The seem to enjoy getting their head scratched more than the horned goats.
Thanks for making this video, all of our goats look like nature intended, and have the ability to regulate their body temperature also. Disbudding is cruel.
Do you let your bucks a does live together?
Wow what a BIG difference in the sound after you broke your Microphone..... Hope that you can Replace it soon Sounds so Much BETTER with it.... What is the New SSL Family Dog's Name ?? Thank You Sir
The new dog's name is Remy and she is quite a handful over here:)
@@SSLFamilyDad I thank You Sir for Commenting Back
The process with the iron is more stressful on the person doing it. The kids are right as rain right after disbudding. Chemically removing the buds is far more stressful for all involved.
Having said that, the only reason we do it is because goats get stuck in the fence and the more dominant ones will ram them while their stuck and they get injured and/or die.
I love that let the goats figure things out among themselves, and that you understand that a goat are gonna act like a goat. They're gonna headbutt, that's just what they do. It's sad that shows don't allow natural goats to participate... Though they are some countries in which dehorning/disbudding is mandatory(just like they're countries where that is illegal) and for those I recently learning that caustic paste is an efficient disbudding method that doesn't seem as dangerous or traumatizing(for both goat and human) as the hot iron, or any other method tbh.
So glad we are not the only ones who don't do it.
had goats (3-5 does and a buck + kids each year) for almost 20 yrs and never had goat on goat horn injury... very occasional horn trapped in fence incident... once a year? and I once filed a sharp end of a goat horn that I noticed had been left after that end had splintered slightly. Do people still disbud? ...Not here in Normandy... perhaps they never have. Goats without horns - men without hands... disbudding seems a perverse habit to me. I've never had an issue with an 'aggressive' goat... perhaps if the animal has become frustrated? or been mis-treat? My neighbours old buck was a handful ,,, but had had a hard life. I'm the boss of my goats.... no issue - would be dangerous not to be. Thanks for posting and questioning the habit...
Personally I will probably still get my goats disbudded when I get them, but its really nice to know some of the things that may happen if you aren't careful, I've just seen too many goats hung up in their fences to risk my own... Definitely would pay a pro to disbud for me, although breeding polled animals is my goal to avoid horns if possible.
If you have someone disbud your goats, make sure you see a good sampling of his work. Just like a tattoo artist, you need to be sure they know what they're doing. We have 2 wethers who were poorly disbudded and they both grow small scurs. I was new to goats 5 years ago and didn't know what the man was doing wrong. #1 - Males should be disbudded between 5 & 8 days. #2 - Males have V shaped horns, not round like females. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Never leave the iron on for more than 10 seconds. Brain damage and/or death may ensue. I am not morally opposed to disbudding, but we will probably never have it done, again. Not really any need to for us. Besides, have you seen some of the AWESOME horns out there? Also, requiring disbudding to show is just plain dumb. (Sorry so long-winded.)
yea, I was planning on having someone who either breeds goats in my area or a vet do it because I dont think I'm strong enough physically plus I'm inexperienced (last time i helped disbud was near a decade ago at summer camp). I heard you burn a triangle on bucklings heads because of those horns being much wider than the girls'. There are definitely some awesome horns out there, and I like them, but I dont want accidents or risks with play fighting. I'll probably have horned goats eventually when I'm more experienced with their behavior tho, and I agree that disbudding for show is dumb, its like saying no show chickens should have spurs or something.
when we had goats we took them to the vets and did it as painlessly as possible, kinda like circumcision or docking the tail of a dog , they don't remember it.
I never dehorn our goats. Even my Saanen . Which means I cannot show her . Oh well. Make sure your vet does it if you decide to do so. Also band the bucks at same time
Another reason why I love your channel :) It frustrates me that the show goat circuit forces this dehorning upon alot of families who hate it too but do it because of the "rules" and want to sell their kids for profit. I have a few questions for you: Do you have problems finding buyers for your horned kids? And I noticed you are keeping the boys in with the girls - do you always let them stay together or do the bucks have a separate pen; and when do you separate? Thanks :) I'm thrilled you let them have their horns.
We have not had any issues selling this breed with horns but I can say that we could probably charge more for the 4h kids right about this time of year. We put the bucks in separate pens until we are ready to breed them
thanks :) @@SSLFamilyDad
I was with you. But change my mind after the fourth time i have had utters with damage from horns. Don't want to but .