yearling doe with horns

ajneal30 · #1 01/02/14, 08:32 PM

I have one gentle yearling doe left from my inherited herd. She loves to give kisses and will lead with her halter. My only problem is that when she gets frustrated she swings her head around and I took a horn to the thigh today. It's got a hard lump and a nasty bruise. I plan on milking her at some point after she gives birth (any day now) and I was wondering...would you dehorn? What method would you use? If I did dehorn her, I would wait until babies are older, don't want to stress her out too much when she is almost ready to kid or when her babies are still really young.

jcatblum · #2 01/02/14, 08:55 PM

I would not dehorn. If you want to dehorn the kids find someone locally who has experience to teach you. Most are more than happy to share knowledge.

**mygoat** · #3 01/02/14, 09:04 PM

On accident is one thing, but purposeful is totally another. I would've immediatlely grabbed an ear and yanked/twisted. I do not tolerate butting/jabbing purposefully with horns. I've owned horned and disbudded my entire goat raising experience, and aggresive goats don't live long.

I have been accidentally injured by horned goats as well as disbudded goats, but don't blame the goats for accidents.

I don't really like any method of dehorning adult animals. I think it's usually a very painful and stressful process. If I were to attempt it, I'd probably try banding horns. Some people have the stomach to hold the goat down and cut/burn. I'd probably have to see it done to give it a try myself. I also never have that kind of manpower 'help' available to me, so I probably wouldn't attempt it anyways.

Personally though, goats with horns ought to not be aggressive just like disbudded goats. A goat that butts me, disbudded or not, is just asking for my prompt chastisement... and usually I'm pretty good at proving to them that I'm WAY meaner than they are and can't get away with such behavior.

The moral of the story is, you're mean, you die. If I had such an animal, I'd probably breed it to the best buck I could find for a couple years and get a couple superior daughters, and disbud them on time. Then I'd cull the doe. If I didn't have that kinda time or if she got worse, I'd keep her first daughter only. If I really didn't need the doe or her offspring, I'd just outright cull. Depends on your goals and who is out there working with your goats - small children with eyes at 'poking' height may be at risk for loosing an eyeball. Of course, while bending over working with her, you are at risk as well for something like this. Not likely, but possible. Even then, bruising/injury is bad enough, IMO.

**mygoat** · #4 01/02/14, 09:05 PM

Also, if you don't train her, do not expect her to just accept milking. Put her in the milkstand and 'pretend' to milk at least once per day. Start this before she kids. Once she's used to you touching her udder, she'll take to milking like a pro. Otherwise, there's a good chance you'll have a rodeo. It's a rare goat that is not trained that just accepts milking right off the bat.

ajneal30 · #5 01/02/14, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mygoat

Also, if you don't train her, do not expect her to just accept milking. Put her in the milkstand and 'pretend' to milk at least once per day. Start this before she kids. Once she's used to you touching her udder, she'll take to milking like a pro. Otherwise, there's a good chance you'll have a rodeo. It's a rare goat that is not trained that just accepts milking right off the bat.

I have been handling her stomach and udder daily since I got her. I am almost done rebuilding my stantion and will only give her grain there once I am finished. She tolerates it now and only picks up one hind leg in protest. no kicking or freaking out. She is my only doe right now and so she and I are stuck with each other. Her horns are nearly straight up and back so they are easy to get hung up on. She doesn't intentionally try to gore anyone, but when she swings her head around, anyone within range is going to get it.

Suzyq2u · #6 01/02/14, 09:19 PM

You do this

This is our star a few years ago, small slits in the tennis balls then we
used gorilla glue or super glue and shoved them on. They don't last
forever and need to be replaced occasionally - but they do the job.
Star has calmed down over the years, but it sure was handy the first 2 yrs
or so!

ajneal30 · #7 01/02/14, 09:39 PM

^^^^^ Great Idea!^^^^^

Awnry Abe · #8 01/02/14, 10:34 PM

My boers that happen to be high on the pecking order are my biggest culprits. Walking into the pen with food was particularly dangerous, because they didn't seem to discriminate on what or who they hooked. They have since trained me on a few finer details to keep the chaos down when I do venture in with food.

...I wouldn't hesitate for a second to try the tennis ball trick.

Wendy · #9 01/02/14, 11:59 PM

I have successfully banded horns on a lot of adult goats. It always worked well.

Blue Ridge · #10 01/03/14, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wendy

I have successfully banded horns on a lot of adult goats. It always worked well.

Wendy,

Do you have any links to GOOD information on how to do this?

Being new to goats, I've found on more than one occasion that there is plenty of BAD information on the internet about how to do "this and that".

Brent

Wendy · #11 01/03/14, 11:45 PM

Here are a couple of sights. I do not make any kind of incision when i do it like the one site does. I take a rat tail file & file a groove around the base of the horn. I roll down 2 bands in the groove & then put some duct tape around the horn to keep them from rolling up. If you get a good enough groove made, they don't usually roll up. I have had some come off as quick as 4 days & others take 4 weeks. I have had one knock a horn off before it should have come off. It was painful for her, but she recovered fine with no ill effects. It's so much better to do them as babies.

http://www.barnonemeatgoats.com/bandinghorns.html

http://www.littlecudchewers.com/Deho...er%20Goats.htm

http://www.goatworld.com/articles/di...ehorning.shtml

Blue Ridge · #12 01/04/14, 07:52 AM

Thank you.

Every one on this site is so helpful.

ajneal30 · #13 01/04/14, 01:12 PM

http://[URL=http://s86.photobucket.com/user/ajneal30/media/1476350_10152106926485409_520352803_n.jpg.html] yearling doe with horns - Goats

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Thanks for the tip! Much easier now that I don't have to worry about getting gored.

ajneal30 · #14 01/04/14, 01:16 PM

http://[URL=http://s86.photobucket.com/user/ajneal30/media/1522074_10152106926695409_1127493168_n.jpg.html] yearling doe with horns - Goats

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Suzyq2u · #15 01/04/14, 02:04 PM

Yay! you might still get butted but it's not as bad

Michelle98 · #16 01/05/14, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suzyq2u

You do this

This is our star a few years ago, small slits in the tennis balls then we
used gorilla glue or super glue and shoved them on. They don't last
forever and need to be replaced occasionally - but they do the job.
Star has calmed down over the years, but it sure was handy the first 2 yrs
or so!

That is so awesome! !!!!!!!!!