Horns and Nigerian Dwarfs

[Bicycle]

I notice a lot of Nigerian Dwarf breeders only sell dis budded kids, without exception. Is dis budding a really necessary thing to do, or is it just convenient, like declawing? Is something as small as a Nigerian Dwarf going to be dangerous with horns? I know you can't show horned goats, but if you are just looking for milk producing pets is it alright for them to be horned? I really like the look of horned goats, and I've read they help the goats cool off somehow. Do disbudded goats ever grow back the fur where they were disbudded?

 

[Ms. Research]

Convenient like declawing? I don't about that. But there are those who sell goats with horns, you just have to find them. I don't think there is a study out there that states that disbudding alters their personality or mental status. At least I don't know of one. Maybe someone does.

I think it's just preference. And as posted in another thread, goats can be dangerous with our without horns if you don't know what you are doing.

So if you want a goat with horns, go for it! They are impressive.

 

[Squirrelgirl88]

My ND girls have their horns. And at 4+ months old they are cute. Yes, I have had one black eye - my fault - turns out you should NEVER try and kiss a baby goat on the head. :/ Believe me, I agonized over the decision. When we breed the girls next year it will be up to the buyer to make their own decision, but if they want them disbudded, they will have to do it themselves. Any that stay here will keep their horns.

 

[ksalvagno]

Yes, the goats grow back the hair after disbudding. If you have ever been hit in the face or hooked by a horn, then you know why. It is definitely personal preference but you do have to watch out for fences and they can easily accidently get you with their horns. Most people with kids prefer to buy dehorned goats. You could certainly talk to a breeder and see if they will not disbud kids that you want to purchase but you may have to put a deposit down or something because the decision would have to be made quickly to buy the goats before disbudding.

 

[crazyland]

I have a NG wether who has his horns. So far he is good with his horns. But I have lost one goat with horns to her getting her head out the fence and a deadly critter getting a snack. From now on no horns. I won't be owning meat goats or showing meat goats. The kinders that I like are disbudded.

 

[manybirds]

You most definatly want goats dehorned. Yes little nigerians can cause tremendous damage to u and other goats (not to mention fencing). I have heard horror stories about horned goats attacking one another and killing eathother just by play fighting. I left my first goat with horns and it is probably one of the biggest mistakes i have ever made (not to be dramatic). If they have horns no matter how sweet they are they will use them. My abu (horned goat) u cant pet him anymore without even accidently getting hooked by a horn. he is hystrung and a little naughty but u have to remember he is my sweet bottle baby. We had to seperate out the mom and her baby because he kept butting the baby. we took them to fair and i had to seperate the mom/baby out because he picked up the baby and threw it. he butts the mom and sometimes get his horn stuck in her collar and his horn digs into her neck. u have to remember that this is not a particularly mean goat just one with horns. even without horns abortions and brocken ribs and ocassionaly even death can be caused, with horns the risk goes up humungously. now i'm going to go through this huge thing as soon as the bugs go down to get his horns off. It is such a simple thing to get them dehorned. If it is done properly they don't grow back. it should be done from 1-10 bucklings ( though it varies depending on goat it's always good to do it ASAP) I was just reading this blog from this lady who disbudded. she has a different method then the nice copper ring. she says it's a little more painful on the baby goat but she has never ever had a scur horn (the big thick deformed ones that are very close to imposable to remove even through banding) though very ocasionaly on a full buck (because of testosterone) she will get a little scur (the kind u can twist off with fingers or pliers). She says when people call her awful she sends them pictures of a buck that wasn't dehorned properly and got a scur horn that had to be bone sawed off and then burned and burned in a huge traumatizing bloody mess. I don't know 1 person who left horns on that dosn't regret it. We know people who raise like 700 meat goats and don't dehorn and they have to bottle raise a lot of there babies because moms get internal injuries from being butted too hard. if i left my abu's horns on we would have to seperate him out away from other goats. burning (if properly done) is the only way to permanently remove horns, they will grow back if u band them (slowly but they will). burning is not as hard on the baby goat as u think. did i mention they will wreck fences and get there head stuck in them everytime they stick there head through (almost everyone i know who has horned goats spends a fortune on fencing) horns are cute when they are babies but then they hit a year and funs over.I liked horns on my little abu until he hit a year. then i was very extremely sorely (litterly) regreting my decision.

Here is how the lady does burning horns:

first she gets the smallest size top she can (not the pygmy one but if u like nigerian dwarfs u might want to do that) and files it down to about half it's origional thickness, not so its sharp but just thinner and then she puts the kid in the dehorning box and takes the filed down head and instead of just holding the burner on she rotates is around (the idea of her method is to cut throught the hide instead of just burning, this is why she files down the head- though remember not till it's sharp just a little less wide). instead of looking for a nice copper ring u want to see a white ring. then she does a second set of burns rite in front of the first two (i think this is where a blood vessel or nerve is the first two r rite on the horn second two in front) she makes two nice white rings again. when she has made her burns she taks something (like a flat head screwdriver) and pops the horn caps off and sprays everything with .........the healing stuff (cant remember what it's called) not blood stop though. there is no blood and its barely more traumatizing then normal dehorning. don't be scared to do it the kids are better off this way and there are never any hard fealings. My one wether kid got the nice copper ring and now has a scur/ horn (the thick non nearly non removable kind.) this is going to make him very hard to sell

Hope that helped! sorry for it being so long!

 

[elevan]

I have a 50/50 mix of horned and dehorned goats. I prefer horns...those without were that way when I got them. I have pygmies, a nigerian dwarf buck and a cross buck. You have to be cautious, you have to have good fences (and check them daily). There is no must have one way or the other...it is truly a personal choice and one that needs to be made in an educated way. Can horned goats be dangerous? Yes, but so can dehorned goats. My most aggressive doe is dehorned.

 

[Goatmasta]

Here are a couple of issues with Nigerians and horns.
1) They can't be shown with horns.
2) Because they are small and you are always bending over to pet them or work on them or do anything, the "black eye" that has been mentioned happens a lot.

The fence and other destructive issues are true for all breeds.

Here ALL babies leave disbudded because that is our choice. They all have our herd name and we don't want horned goats with our herd name. Granted we mostly have "show goats".
We have had horned goats in the past and just decided we would go the other way.

There is a article on my blog about disbudding with video.

The Pygmy tip is too small, the 1/2" tip is the one we use.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

We sell all our babies disbudded as well. Most breeders/buyers (certainly those involved in dairying or show) are interested only in disbudded goats so you're essentially removing the animal from the (registered) gene pool by not disbudding. I don't want to limit my kids' futures if I can help it.

 

[BetterHensandGardens]

All our babies will be disbudded as well. I know it's a personal choice, but this is why ours are all disbudded:

1. Horns get stuck in things, and can cause the goats to injure themselves

2. Goats with horns can hurt each other when they play butt each other

3. Horns can hurt people

4. People generally prefer hornless goats, so theyre worth more

5. Horns cause damage to fences, barn structures, mangers, etc.

6. Horns can break, and as bad as disbudding may seem, a broken horn is horrible (the goat can bleed to death)

7. The goats have to be disbudded to be shown