Collars and horns?

[goatzrule]

So because the mean Doe is gone I've thinking about putting collars on my Does and weathers, most of the other horned goats are pretty calm and there horns are curled back. So what do you guys think yay or nay?

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

IMO the safest thing to do is leave collars off, our goats don't have horns and we leave prefer to leave collars off unless we are going to be working with them. Or if one of them is giving us some trouble and recently challenged us.

[Nanno]

It's safest to leave collars off, but I leave them on anyway. I never use nylon buckle style collars. They won't break in an emergency. I either use leather or I use a nylon collar with a plastic clip. They're sturdy enough not to break constantly, but flimsy enough to give way if the goats really go at it with the horn hooking. And yes, horned goats love to hook the collars of other goats when they are fighting. They do it most often when they are 3 -12 months old and then they seem to mostly grow out of it.

[goatzrule]

Before we got horns in the herd we had collars on all of them,all the collars where nylon with plastic clips so it would break under pressure.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

If you want collars on at home, I suggest using the plastic chain you can get from say home depot. They are strong enough to be used but the little connecting links are pliable and can be pulled part easy enough if they get stuck.

[saltphoenix]

I keep collars on all my goats too but I have definitely seen them hook each other with their horns on other goat's collars. Not often, but it happens. Usually an older doe with a teenage whippersnapper wether. They rough them up and push them back but then UN-hook them with just as much ease as they hooked them with. I think they know exactly how to "snatch 'em up by the collar" without damage and I hope for the best.  
I need them to have collars more than my fear of them killing each other, I guess.

[Nanno]

Yes, they definitely hook each other on purpose! We mostly see it with youngsters going after each other and occasionally an older goat will hook a youngster to teach him a lesson. You're absolutely right about the snatching--they know exactly how to hook and unhook the other goats, and they seem to know when another goat has learned his lesson and had enough. I can't use the plastic chain collars. They're too flimsy. I want my collars to break under severe stress, but the plastic chains seem to break just from having a big wether pull too hard when I'm leading him to a pen. I'm sure they work well for hornless goats, but with horned goats you might just as well not use collars at all because your goats will be collarless in two days and you'll have to walk all over the property picking up plastic chain pieces!

[Perry]

Well I have plastic chain collars on my adult goats, 3 of which are horned, and have not had one broken in at least several months. 

In the past, I used the nylon collars; but several years ago I came home to find one on my best packers hanging dead, with his collar twisted up around another goat's horn.

I do use the nylon collars if there are no horned goats in the herd.

[Nanno]

Funny, I guess my goats are just too rough with collars. It's sad about your goat's collar accident. Did your nylon collar have a plastic breakaway clip? My goats have gotten hung up several times with nylon collars, but the clips have always broken under stress. I use really flimsy ones for the babies, but the bucks' collars have heavy duty plastic clips. They've still managed to break them a few times--bucks are awfully hard on equipment! My pack wethers and milk does all wear leather collars and they're very tough but will break in an emergency. I've had to replace a few over the years but not many. The leather collars look really nice and are very gentle on their neck hair, which I like. Nylon tends to wear a bald spot after a while.