# Horn care?



## LadyIsabelle2011 (Sep 23, 2011)

You know, this is probably a really silly green horn question, but do goats with horns need any kind of extra care? I mean, you know how fur needs to be cut and hooves need to be trimmed, well, do horns need any extra attention?


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## elevan (Sep 23, 2011)

Not unless there's a problem.

Although I do know some who polish their goats horns with horse hoof polish...it's just to make them look pretty though.


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## DonnaBelle (Sep 23, 2011)

I've got one goat with horns, she's a rescue.  As RTG would say--what a snot!!!  She's got em and she knows how to use them. 

Does anyone know anything about a "vanishing goat horn creme"  that you just apply and the horns fall off the next day?

DonnaBelle


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Sep 23, 2011)

That would be a miracle :lol

Luckily little camelia does not seem to realize she has horns, or at least she doesn't ever use them. I asked the question cause her horns were starting to look a little...rough. I just went out there and rubbed them and picked off the scaly bits. It helped her appearance tremendously, in fact she looks like a new goat...I guess when they started looking scaly like that I wondered if I was doing something wrong


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## elevan (Sep 23, 2011)

Make sure you have a good loose goat mineral out.  Horns are mad of the same stuff as (human) hair and fingernails...don't remember what it's called...  :/  anyway - lack of certain nutrients can cause them to become brittle.  So if the horns are looking bad then I'd be making sure that they are getting the minerals that they need.  Also do a fecal to check for worm load...parasite burden can zap the nutrients from an animal as well.


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## manybirds (Sep 23, 2011)

LadyIsabelle2011 said:
			
		

> You know, this is probably a really silly green horn question, but do goats with horns need any kind of extra care? I mean, you know how fur needs to be cut and hooves need to be trimmed, well, do horns need any extra attention?


they wreck fences with horns. they wreck you with there horns (everytime my one-mistake- horned one turns his head he hooks me in the gut-not on porpuse but it happens and it hurts). i've very nearly gotten black eyes and broken noses from accidental use o the horn. he has a huge advantage over the other goats and has been known to hurt my doe. Would u like more? i could go on and on. 
The answer to your question? that depends on what you mean by 'extra care' if you consider extra care replacing fences and cleaning blood and tear stains out of things than yes they require extra care. if you consider extra care trimming etc than no. many people will try to argue with me but this is my out look. some people will say horns serve a 'cooling' down purpose but i honestly see no difference in the horned and dehorned's temperture. in fact my black (dehorned)lamacha doe normally stays cooler than my chocolate and white (horned)nubian wether. 

and no it's not a stupid question. we all start somewhere


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## elevan (Sep 23, 2011)

The horn v. no horn debate has been done more than enough times.  The OP has a horned goat.  We will not argue the subject here - let this serve as a warning to any who might wish to continue that debate.


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## manybirds (Sep 23, 2011)

DonnaBelle said:
			
		

> I've got one goat with horns, she's a rescue.  As RTG would say--what a snot!!!  She's got em and she knows how to use them.
> 
> Does anyone know anything about a "vanishing goat horn creme"  that you just apply and the horns fall off the next day?
> 
> DonnaBelle


use a rounded metal file, file (the first layer of horn) them down as close to the skul as you can and put two castration bands on each horn. put a new band on every 30 days. 30-60 days later you will have a dehorned goat. 
my wether is soon to be dehorned muhahahahaha


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Sep 23, 2011)

Yep, she's a horned goat, not much I can do about that now  

In either case, I have always had some sort of loose mineral or mineral block out there, so I guess its possible I'm dealing with worms...her horns really aren't brittle though, and really didn't look as bad as I made it sound, I think they were just growing and maybe a little bit of the outer layer was coming off. ...I do think a fecal exam is in order though, I've been worming them with low dosages of fenbendazole, it seems to do the trick and cured them of the "logs" they were leaving at one point...perhaps I need to switch 
wormers?


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## elevan (Sep 23, 2011)

LadyIsabelle2011 said:
			
		

> I do think a fecal exam is in order though, *I've been worming them with low dosages of fenbendazole*, it seems to do the trick and cured them of the "logs" they were leaving at one point...perhaps I need to switch wormers?


I would like to ask you to read the Parasite Management thread for goats - link is in my signature.

Low dosages of any dewormer can cause parasite resistance - which is a HUGE problem.  You definitely want to prevent that on your farm.  Do some research and get some fecals done and talk to your vet and lots of goat people.


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Sep 23, 2011)

I got ya...though I use the term "low dosage" with anything related to medicine...not sure why...honestly, I just adjust the dosage according to weight by what it says on the bottle, I'm not under dosing but I'm not over dosing either if you know what I mean 

Thanks for directing me to the link, I've still got a lot of learning when it comes to these guys, and a little extra reading never hurt anybody


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## elevan (Sep 23, 2011)

Take it slow when reading that discussion...it is the culmination of 3 seminars and a field day.  What I'm saying is don't read it all at once or your head might explode


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Sep 23, 2011)

I just skimmed over it...and I think my brain may have exploded a bit    I think its awesome that your county extension agency actually holds seminars like that...I'm not even sure that my town has one  or if we do It would be the first I had heard of it...


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## drdoolittle (Sep 23, 2011)

The only thing besides feeding loose minerals that I did was to rub some Aquaphor into them to make them shine.  It didn't last long, though.


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