What did you do today?

[DownUnder Gal]

I love Huck's long ears. Looks like he needs to grow into them. Good on you for being patient with that lady. Some people need to be educated (like my colleague who thought that a goat was a male sheep???)

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

I kinda hope his ears just stay a little to big for him. He's a little slower than the other goats and it really fits his personality.
I guess it's not the first or last time I'll hear somebody said something outrageous!

[Nanno]

Great story! We've encountered a lot of folks over the years who have never seen a goat in person. When we used to walk Cuzco through cities and neighborhoods, people would sometimes ask if he was a donkey or a llama. On discovering that he was a goat, they'd invariably ask if we could milk "him".

Some people sure have gotten removed from the earth.

I love Huck's long ears too! May they ever stay a little too big for his head!

[Saltlick]

I am against de-horning (because it hurts!), but I have to say, if I had to do it all over again I'd wait until I could find some naturally polled goats! I love the horns, but the goats destroy everything with them. I'm SO sick of it. I have one goat in particular who has turned aggressive and super destructive - he destroys anything he can. I am looking for a home for him, but who wants a goat like that? I don't want him to become stew either, but I often threaten him with that! Sigh.... OK, I feel better now that I've vented.

[IdahoNancy]

Waiting for naturally polled goats could take a long time. It is a bit of a rarity. Better to find a breeder who has proven work de-horning. My last baby had a scur so when I had him sedated for castration at 6 months old I had the vet hit the scur base. This worked well. I do love the heads of my naturally polled goats.

[Nanno]

I am against de-horning (because it hurts!), but I have to say, if I had to do it all over again I'd wait until I could find some naturally polled goats! I love the horns, but the goats destroy everything with them. I'm SO sick of it. I have one goat in particular who has turned aggressive and super destructive - he destroys anything he can. I am looking for a home for him, but who wants a goat like that? I don't want him to become stew either, but I often threaten him with that! Sigh.... OK, I feel better now that I've vented.

How old is the aggressive one? Is he aggressive with people or just other goats? 

Do your goats have suitable things to push and rake their horns on? I've seen tires, barrels, wooden posts, and other creative things put to good use as indestructible goat toys. The best way to protect fences from horns is to string it with electric wire.

I'm going to have to do something about my trees this year. As my boys are reaching full size, I've found that they are able to reach higher and higher branches on my pine trees, and some of the smaller ones are being eaten down excessively. We haven't had problems with horns (yet), but we also have a lot of space with a lot of browse to keep them occupied. My PolyDome sheds and electric fences are fairly goat-proof and so far they haven't tried to destroy my house (knock on wood). We've had issues with goats chewing wires in various places (we lost our internet twice!), but by now we've gotten the wires on our house, trailers, and vehicles all hidden or reinforced. As much as we love our goaties, I can't deny that they can be very destructive critters!

[Saltlick]

OMG wire eating goats! The fence is protected by an electric (solar) wire, although it's so dry out here it doesn't give much of a zap. But that goat in particular tears apart their goat houses and anything he can. I need a more solid shelter for them. He never used to be aggressive with people, but he has become so. He even challenges me sometimes, and he has gotten too heavy for me to flip him. I just want to get rid of him. He's a jerk - It may sound terrible, but I can't say I like him at all anymore (and he used to sit on my lap and snuggle as a baby!). They have a couple of large spools to rub on and some wooden boxes to jump up on, but maybe I should sink in a wooden post for them to horn on. They have lots of space.

[Saltlick]

Waiting for naturally polled goats could take a long time. It is a bit of a rarity. Better to find a breeder who has proven work de-horning. My last baby had a scur so when I had him sedated for castration at 6 months old I had the vet hit the scur base. This worked well. I do love the heads of my naturally polled goats.

I just don't like the dehorning process - no anesthesia, it hurts like hell (imagine being burnt down into your skull), and they scream from the pain. I think it's barbaric!! I had to hold my baby goats when I was a kid while they were being dehorned, and I'm scarred for life from that. If they could put them under during the process, I could possibly be ok with it... I do know that having no horns is a lot easier for the humans.

[Nanno]

Aw, it's too bad your boy got aggressive with people. I wonder if there's a brush clearing company that would take him. He might be fine in a large herd where he doesn't have to interact with people.

We have a vet who puts the kids under for dehorning. I don't like the screaming either (and neither does our vet!).

[Saltlick]

Oh wow, that's good to know about the dehorning! He isn't TERRIBLE with people - I mean, he doesn't chase people or anything. But her raises his hair and postures at them and stands on his hind legs, so I'm worried he might do something. When I have people come in the pen I use a spray bottle - best goat defense ever!