Horns vs. No horns. What do you like best?

[KWAK]

I'm thinking about letting my kids (when they are born) keep there horns?
What do you do? Why?

 

[Boysmom08]

IMHO, I like leaving them the way nature intended. I have 2 does that have horns and I use them to help when giving oral meds. I was recently asked if I was going to dis bud my baby and had to think about it for awhile, I just had to learn the safe way to handle them so I didn't get the business end of things. They also use them to scratch that itch on their backs.

 

[goodhors]

Easier to get the animal hung up on stuff, sticking head thru holes and horns snagging
so they can't get back out. We saw some goats hung up in a fence that way, stopped
to tell the people.

Really no reason to leave horns on, when they are weapons that can be turned against
you. Even the nicest goat has bad moments, we hear about it often! Goats will still bunt
heads hornless, though they don't always bunt the farm fixtures quite so much hornelss. Hate
hearing about doors being battered or bashed walls.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

I will always leave my goats with horns on. I have Kiko meat goats. They're known for those horns!! I feel that if a goat is born with horns then leave them on. Goats are just as easily handled with horns as without and goats don't just go around hitting you or people or each other as people make them out to do. All my goats are very aware of their horns are are just fine with them. They don't hurt me or each other.

Also, please do not ever disbud meat goats. It's like a sin. Diary goats, ok sure you do that. Your choice. But please not meat goats. Meat goats SHOULD have horns.

 

[babsbag]

I will always leave my goats with horns on. I have Kiko meat goats. They're known for those horns!! I feel that if a goat is born with horns then leave them on. Goats are just as easily handled with horns as without and goats don't just go around hitting you or people or each other as people make them out to do. All my goats are very aware of their horns are are just fine with them. They don't hurt me or each other.

Also, please do not ever disbud meat goats. It's like a sin. Diary goats, ok sure you do that. Your choice. But please not meat goats. Meat goats SHOULD have horns.

But my meat goats live with my dairy goats; and I get tired of getting heads out of stock panels. I have some boers with horns and some without and when I am grabbing a goat by the collar I hate having them raise their head up and smash my fingers between horns and collar. Sorry, if they are staying on my ranch, and not going into the show ring, the horns have to go. Just easier for this old lady to deal with.

My boer buck does have his horns and I will admit that they make good "steering wheels"

 

[OneFineAcre]

I'm thinking about letting my kids (when they are born) keep there horns?
What do you do? Why?

What kind of goats do you have and what is there purpose?

We have Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats and show them in ADGA shows. You cannot show any dairy goat breed in ADGA shows with horns.

With that said, we sell our kids as registered, and we feel that it is better to disbud those for sell as well, because you do not know what a potential buy will want. There is definitely a larger market of people who do not want horns.

If none of this applies to your situation, it would be fine to leave the horns on if that what you choose to do.

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

I will always leave my goats with horns on. I have Kiko meat goats. They're known for those horns!! I feel that if a goat is born with horns then leave them on. Goats are just as easily handled with horns as without and goats don't just go around hitting you or people or each other as people make them out to do. All my goats are very aware of their horns are are just fine with them. They don't hurt me or each other.

Also, please do not ever disbud meat goats. It's like a sin. Diary goats, ok sure you do that. Your choice. But please not meat goats. Meat goats SHOULD have horns.

Gonna disagree with this one on personal experience. We have had meat goats pop a dairy goat's udder. The doe we just took in is also with ZERO provocation walking up to me and gouging me with her horns. Seriously no reason. And there is a big difference between "I'm itching my head on you and oops" and one that is going for impact. It doesn't matter where she is in the pen. From a good 40ft away she walked up and started gouging me with horns. She's getting banded this weekend. It is completely unacceptable.


Our cashmere goats keep their horns though. As well as our Boer doe. Neither use them on people and the fiber goats need them for cooling.


It's a hotly debated topic and you have to do what works best for YOUR farm and YOUR buyers. There is not and will never be one right answer.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

I still strongly believe that meat goats should have there horns. Dairy? Fine take them off but keep them on meat goats. Just MHO

btw 99.999999999999% of meat goat buyers want their goats with horns. I have never in my life seen people that are in the meat goat side of things that remove all their goat's horns.

 

[SheepGirl]

Our cashmere goats keep their horns though. As well as our Boer doe. Neither use them on people and the fiber goats need them for cooling.

Maybe goats are different, but I have to disagree as I have polled sheep that do not overheat and they survived pretty well this past summer in 1-2 wks straight of 100+ degree temps just by staying in the shade.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Our cashmere goats keep their horns though. As well as our Boer doe. Neither use them on people and the fiber goats need them for cooling.

Maybe goats are different, but I have to disagree as I have polled sheep that do not overheat and they survived pretty well this past summer in 1-2 wks straight of 100+ degree temps just by staying in the shade.

Yeah goats are. Removing fiber goat's horns is not wise and horns do ALOT to help goats regulate heat. Goats should have horns.