# New to goats! I purchased a breeding pair of fainting goats!!!



## BellLisaMo (Feb 19, 2011)

I recently purchased a breeding pair of fainting goats, they are registered on the American Fainting Goat Association and are listed at Premium goats. My male has curled horns like a ram from a disbudding gone wrong. I was afraid of him at first, but then I remembered I can just scare him and he'll fall over... hahaha! No not really. He is 6 years old, so he knows how to handle his Myotonia. My female doesn't stiffen up at all, unless I try to walk her around on a harness. The two of them have never been halter trained.

Any suggestions?

Here they are! Sedona is my Buck, Cameo is my Doe. They love each other!






Sedona, my giant!





Cameo, my sweetheart!


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## barredcountrycoop (Feb 19, 2011)

I love those! Don't have any, all we have are pygmys. Keep posting , at this rate you'll be free to post your pics in no time


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## BellLisaMo (Feb 19, 2011)

Pgymys are so cute! Mine are so big, I wish they were smaller, but they are still really sweet!


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## barredcountrycoop (Feb 19, 2011)

oh they're very cool looking. Yeah I love our pygmys, very playful! We have blackbelly sheep as well but they do not even get close to you, so my son likes the goats much better.


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## elevan (Feb 20, 2011)

They are lovely.  I don't have any suggestions for halter training other than to keep trying...some things just take time.

I did notice that it looks like his horns are pressing down on his eyes and ears.  Don't know if it's causing him any discomfort now, but it could potentially cause problems    you may want to consider having a vet dehorn him  

Fainters aren't really much bigger than pygmies...I've thought of adding a few fainters to our pygmies but my DH says no


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## BellLisaMo (Feb 20, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> They are lovely.  I don't have any suggestions for halter training other than to keep trying...some things just take time.
> 
> I did notice that it looks like his horns are pressing down on his eyes and ears.  Don't know if it's causing him any discomfort now, but it could potentially cause problems    you may want to consider having a vet dehorn him
> 
> Fainters aren't really much bigger than pygmies...I've thought of adding a few fainters to our pygmies but my DH says no


Thanks for your concern! They are actually like 1/2 and inch away from his eyes. I do want to have them cut off, I just wonder if he is too old for that. He is 6 years old. He's always scratching them on things.... what does that mean?


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## elevan (Feb 20, 2011)

BellLisaMo said:
			
		

> elevan said:
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Pictures can be deceiving sometimes    The first picture looks like the horn is pressing on the eye.

He's not old at all at 6.  The scratching his horns on things could be typical male behavior or they could be bothering him    I've never had to have an adult's horns removed myself, but I know that several others on this forum have.  Hopefully one of them will chime in or you could post in another topic specifically regarding this asking for feedback.

Good luck to you!


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## BellLisaMo (Feb 22, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> BellLisaMo said:
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How old will a buck live to be? He looks and acts soooo old ! HAHA!


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## elevan (Feb 22, 2011)

BellLisaMo said:
			
		

> How old will a buck live to be? He looks and acts soooo old ! HAHA!


The average life of a goat is supposed to be between 10-13 years...but like most animals that doesn't mean a whole lot.  You can have some that live much longer or shorter - hence the word average  

He looks "handsome" to me


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Feb 23, 2011)

If you have him dehorned, I recommend having a vet do it, since it's very bloody and ugly. However, once it's healed it'll look like any other buck


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## BellLisaMo (Feb 23, 2011)

Dreaming Of Goats said:
			
		

> If you have him dehorned, I recommend having a vet do it, since it's very bloody and ugly. However, once it's healed it'll look like any other buck


awwww how scary sounding.... 

It does seem that they are pressing down on his ears, and he DOES have to look at me sideways to see me... so i would like to get it done, but it worries me, i dont want to stress him out. 


He really is a nice guy, once the "fear of a giant goat" gets out of you. He used to scare me so bad at first, I NEVER had goats before this...
and he'd so that "lip blubber" thing, and freak me out!
HAHA


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Feb 24, 2011)

They probably don't feel a thing when the vet does it, and if you don't have him dehorned he could get his horns stuck in things like fences.


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## helmstead (Feb 24, 2011)

Dreaming Of Goats said:
			
		

> They probably don't feel a thing when the vet does it, and if you don't have him dehorned he could get his horns stuck in things like fences.


Once you've seen the aftermath of a vet surgically dehorning an adult goat, you'll never recommend it again.  It's NASTY.  I posted my suggestions on your other thread, OP.

They are lovely!  Congrats on your new goats!


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## lilhill (Feb 24, 2011)

Congrats on the new goats!  Really nice!

My Vet absolutely refuses to dehorn an adult goat.  He said he did it once and never again.

Edited to add:  I spoke to another Vet who said, "Yeah, I'll dehorn him.  I can't guarantee he'll survive, though."  'Nuff said.  I thanked him and told him never mind.


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## dkosh (Feb 24, 2011)

I have a Fainter pair also. I love the breed. 
As far as the horns go I think if it isn't causing any problems I'd leave it alone. JMO  At 6 years old he knows exactly where the end of the horn is and he is use to it. 
Enjoy and remember even though he is use to his myotonia you can always surprise him with something new just for a giggle.


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## chandasue (Feb 24, 2011)

Congrats! I love the pic on the other thread of Cameo sticking out her tongue. 
My 2 cents, which isn't much, I'd probably leave his horns alone as long as they aren't growing into his skull or really causing major problems.


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## BellLisaMo (Feb 24, 2011)

AWWWW thank you guys so much!!! They are very sweet... Sedona is in rut, so he likes to flap his lips at me which freaks me out. SO i yell AHHHHHH and he gets stiff and doesnt move and i bolt. HAHAHAA

Cameo is my love bug! She loves her head rubbed and if you don't, she'll rub on your leg just to get petted... haha


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