Horns or no horns?

[ThornyRidgeII]

No horns for me! My goats are constantly sticking heads through gates and the rough housing that goes on is just to dangerous for horns.. I have polled lines in my herd and love it love it love it!!

 

[kstaven]

No Horns!

The neighbors goat...most of our first real interactions with goats were with the neighbors nubian with horns....she is rotten! She slams her owners leg when she is in heat or mad, or just for fun. And she leaves huge bruises! She also threatens the old horses she lives with sometimes, by rearing up and almost slamming their legs! And she got stuck in the fence by her horns in the heat one day and was likely there for hours.......we do get over 100 sometimes.

The problem here isn't horns or not. It an out of control goat with an owner who doesn't lay the law down or possibly not know how too.

 

[kstaven]

I like horns, not just good handles but also good for fending them off since you got something solid to grab onto and steer the head into a different direction(or twist and lay them down all together- had to do that with my wethers a few times cause they kept trying to climb up me and kneeing them in the gut didnt work at all, laid them down a few times and the lesson finally stuck).

Got one of my knees busted against a wall by a dehorned goat since I had nothin to grab to keep it off me, ears are just too slippery to pull a mean goat off of you and keep at arms lenght.

You dont get hurt by horns if you are smart about it(or common sense I guess, its like people around you better use common sense if you have a board on your shoulder so they dont get knocked outta their socks when you turn unexpectedly) - like dont stand over a goat with horns that point up, if it gets spooked or throws its head up for any other reason you getting stabbed is your own stupidity for not paying attention and thinking ahead. When I have to forcibly carry my wethers somewhere I make sure no part of me is in the line of fire at any given time in case he jerks his head up or back(usually for balance, not agression but hurts all the same no matter which).

Same goes for my sheep, if I carry a ram lamb and he is struggeling and just throwing his head every which way(at that age horns point up usually) I just handle them with their head either crushed to me or at an angle where he wont accidentally hit me.
The big boys the horns are great to move them over, since they dont like them touched other then their headbashing, so they step out of my personal space really easily.

It's all a matter of knowing how to handle the animals you are dealing with.

 

[manybirds]

i dislike. always getting in the way, wrecking fencing, giving black eyes, hurting other goats severley. I have 2 goats with horns, the nubian with the more upright horns is HORRIBLE, the boer doe with her swept back horns isn't SO bad, though they can be inconvieniant.

 

[SkyWarrior]

No Horns!

The neighbors goat...most of our first real interactions with goats were with the neighbors nubian with horns....she is rotten! She slams her owners leg when she is in heat or mad, or just for fun. And she leaves huge bruises! She also threatens the old horses she lives with sometimes, by rearing up and almost slamming their legs! And she got stuck in the fence by her horns in the heat one day and was likely there for hours.......we do get over 100 sometimes.

The problem here isn't horns or not. It an out of control goat with an owner who doesn't lay the law down or possibly not know how too.

Actually, I would somewhat disagree, politely. My Annie is as sweet as they come--not out of control in the slightest. And yet, I hate her horns. She wants to be held and cuddled--yeah she's a sweetheart of a doe--and those blasted horns get in the way all the time! It's really like she doesn't know she has them.

Yes, nasty goats are a problem. But I find horns a big pain.

 

[kstaven]

That's the nice thing about this community. We can disagree without insult. We all have different backgrounds, opinions and experiences.

We run a dairy full of horned goats and in doing so one learns to be aware and work with and train horned animals. So to us it is no big deal.

What we do not tolerate out of any is aggressive behavior and posturing like that described in the post I replied to. Goats like cattle are very aware of their horns and know how to use them. Just lightly tap a goats horns and you will see just how aware they are of them.

 

[bonbean01]

We have hair sheep and no horns here. However, some thoughts on goats with horns owned by our neighbour ... The horns are a slightly curved forward and look kind of neat and at kidding time when we were helping with a difficult birthing, they did come in handy for holding her. On the bad side, he has a very large pasture that is fenced way back into a heavy wooded area and the goats are not easy to see back there, but you do hear them when they have put their heads through the wire squares to eat grass on the other side, and can't get their heads back in because of the horns...slide out of the fence easily, but not back in when the horns hook on the fencing. At least they are very LOUD about it and easy to hear...LOLOL...he has had to add an inside electric wire to stop that from happening.

Those horns can tear up fencing pretty good without the electric wire.

 

[kstaven]

Choosing the right fence with horned animals is always an issue. We use a farm fence that they can't get heads through.

Working with them is a different world.

The one thing I always say to anyone even considering horned goats is to find some one who works with horned animals daily and work with them for a few months to learn the ropes. Mistakes can be costly, painful, or potentially dangerous. So I would NEVER recommend learning the ropes the hard way if it can in any way be avoided. Teaching a horned animal to respect you and to not use there horns is vital to any long term relationship, and it is essential to learn the signs of a problem and correct it quickly.

 

[NYRIR]

I like horns...they look more natural....and you can hold onto them well! Works better than a collar that chokes 'em if you need to pull them. BUT I will say that I am a newbie...and my two with horns are a Kinder and an Alpine baby. I will be disbudding any future babies though, most people don't want horns around here.

Guess I can see both sides....if my Kinders horns went straight up....I'd probably hate them

 

[Fluffygal]

I like the look of the horns and understand that they help in keeping the goats cool; however, for safety for both the goats and owner, I now prefer without the horns.
Started off with horned goats but have decided to band the 2 left with horns and any new goat I bring home down the road will have to be hornless.

Rufus (rehomed) got very food aggressive and was using his like weapons. It got to were I was constantly on watch around him as he would try the hardest to ram, flip, and bowl over the poor girls to keep the food to himself. The girls would always try to hide behind me so I was always having to grabb him and hold him down til he chilled out. Not to mention to try and not get hooked while he was being a turd. This was no fun so he had to go.

The girls relaxed so much after he was gone; however, Bella has decided that it was her turn to be the top turd of the herd. She ofcourse is no where near as bad as Rufus was but is getting her horns banded. When Fiona arrived (hornless) Bella was really mean to her. Now not so much now, but the rough play makes me worry that she can hurt Fiona just by running under her and flipping her horned head up. Bella is a Pygmy and Fiona a Nubian.

I have 3 different feeders that I put the food in so everyone gets food, 2 hay bags always kept full, and they have fresh greens that they can eat in their pen. I added more space to the pen by expanding it which they love. Despite this, Bella has taken to being the biggest Pigmy of the bunch. She trys to chase Oreo and Fiona off the food; but with more feeders she has a hard time of it.

The 3 girls act like a herd now; but I am still of the mind to no more horns.