Just Kiddin
Mini Goats
Breeders
of
Australian Miniature Goats
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Just Kiddin
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We have compiled this information from a host of
different sources, from personal experience, and from experience of others
in the goat and australian miniature goat world.
We hope you find it helpful.
Disclaimer: All information provided on this website is as examples only. We recommend that it is used as a basic eductional tool and for general reference. We do not claim to represent the practices of all goat breeders, or veterinary practitioners practices or recommendations. We do not have veterinary experience, simply the experience of many years of goat management and breeding. It is recommended that you do not use any information on this site to diagnose or treat any goat health issues without consulting your vet. All information presented on this site is without guarantees, and we disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this information.
Horns
We strongly recommend a goat without horns for a pet and even for a breeding animal, particularly if your goat will be with children. If you are breeding and your does have kids, we would encourage you to disbud them at the correct time so that you do not need to worry about horns later in the goats life.
Some people regard horns as an attractive an integral part of the goat, but they can be dangerous, to you, your friends and family and even other goats. Even if a goat is a hand raised friendly pet, accidents can happen. A horned goat knows it has horns, and it knows how they can be used. Accidently, or on purpose, it can seriously injure other goats, animals and people.
It is never a good idea to mix horned and unhorned goats in the one herd. Horned goats are often getting caught in fences which can be dangerous in itself resulting in injury or even death as the goat tries to free itself, or it can leave itself exposed to predators or the weather. Some breeders prefer horned goats maintaining they are easier to handle, we however find that if you have tame friendly goats, they are much easier to handle simply using their collar. A goat grabbed by the horn tends to react adversely to that type of handling in most cases as it believes it has been 'caught' and will struggle. Some believe an unhorned goat is more open to predator attack. If a dog or pack of dogs can get through your fences and reach your goat/s they can and often will kill them whether the goat/s are horned or not.
If you are planning to show your Australian Miniature Goat, most shows recommend or require that the goat has been disbudded or de-horned.
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Disbudding
Disbudding kids means removing the very early developing horn base to prevent horn growth. Disbudding is one of the least pleasant parts of breeding goats, but it should be done, and it should to be done at the right time for each kid to limit the chance of scur growth later. As in most things related to goats, each kid is individual and you must take this into consideration when determining the correct time to disbud. Some buck kids have sufficient bud growth at day one, however we would never recommend disbudding until they are at least 2-3 days old. Most kids tend to be ready for disbudding between 1-2 weeks, although some may be sooner (particularly buck kids) and some later.
There are some who may argue that disbudding is inhumane. Some AMGA breeders wrestled with this issue but after weighing all of the options have concluded that it is in the goat's best interest to disbud them. In the long term, a friendly unhorned goat is likely to have a happier and safer life as it will not have to worry about getting caught up with its horns, and by making a 'safer' pet or breeding animal it is more likely to be retained in a caring environment. Horned goats often end up getting passed from home to home, or go to the livestock auctions because it inadvertently causes injury with its horns.
The time to disbud is when you can feel a raised 'bump' on the head, a bit like an oversize pimple! Each goat will vary as to when it is best to be disbudded, each breed is different and each sex is different.
If you have never disbudded a kid before, we strongly recommend you seek the advice of a vet or experienced goat keeper to either undertake the procedure for you or to show you the correct procedure, for this reason, we do not offer any detailed information on how to disbud. You should find this person well before you need them however, you dont want to be searching around at the time the kid is ready to be disbudded.
In our experience a kid being disbudded will yell due to being restrained rather than anything else. We have found that the kid's are running around as if nothing has happened within a few minutes of the procedure, and apart from the occasional scratch at their head for the first 24 hours, and a bit of a hoarse voice (from yelling at being held down), they are none the worse for wear.
Scurs can occur after disbudding. Scurs are much more common in bucks than does as bucks have a larger horn base making it more difficult to ensure that you have covered the entire area. A scur is basically horn growth however it is generally more like a thin section of short horn growth which has little or no blood supply and breaks off easily (or can be trimmed). The size or amount of scur growth is directly related to how well (or how badly) the disbudding procedure was.
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What are scurs?
Scurs are small horn re-growths that may develop after disbudding. Scurs are generally loose; if they wiggle when you hold them they will usually get knocked off in the day to day activities of the goat. Scurs can vary greatly from being small and thin to quite long and solid. Bucks are much more likely to develop scurs because they have so much testosterone. If a goat's scurs get very bad you should watch that they don't curl around and grow into the goat's skull. If this happens you will need to do something about it, generally by trimming a small amount very carefully so as not to cause bleeding. Often, when a buck fights, they may break off their scur/s which may bleed and need treatment.
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What about disbudding paste?
We have never used disbudding paste and strongly recommend against using it. This is basically a chemical that will burn the hornbuds slowly and painfully taking a much longer time than using a disbudding iron. You also need to be very careful that the paste does not get onto you when applying it, or onto other goat/s as it can cause burns to them, and can lead to blindness if it gets into any eyes.
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De-horning
If you have a goat with horns and have now decided that you want them removed - Beware - you can't simply cut off a goat's horns. Each horn has 2 large blood vessels running through them. If you attempt to cut off a horn it will cause A LOT of bleeding. We have seen a goat that was de-horned by simply cutting of its horns with cattle de-horners and it was not a pretty sight. Having seen it, we would never recommend or encourage anyone to attempt that approach. We have also seen a buck who had about 1.5" cut off the tip of his horns and even that caused blood to pump out at an alarming rate.
De-horning by any means is painful and stressful on the goat and is not for the faint hearted. A goat's horns are actually a part of their skull connected to the sinus cavity. You should also be aware that removing a mature goats horns by any means can be temporarily debilitating and alter the animals social status within the herd.
If you are considering having a goat de-horned we recommend that you consult with your vet for further advice and ensure that the animal is current on its tetanus vaccination.
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What about using elastrator bands to remove horns?
Some goat breeders have used emasculating (marking) rings to dehorn their goats. Two or three rings are put at the base of each horn in the hairline and within 2 to 8 weeks (sometimes longer), depending on the size of the horns, they fall off. Apparently, the rings cut off the circulation to the growing horns causing them to fall off. The animal shows signs of discomfort for a couple of hours or so when the rings first go on and just before they are about to come off, usually when they get knocked.
Australian miniature goat breeders report varying degrees of success using this method, the main challenge appears to be ensuring you get the rings low enough on the horn base. It is recommended that the hair is clipped and then shaved around the horn base to help facilitate this. As the horn is progressively weakened using this process, it is adviseable to house the goat on its own (but close to other goats) or with a quiet friend only to avoid the horn/s being knocked off early in a fight. The longer the band restricts the horn base the better, if the horn is knocked off too early it will leave a larger wound area to heal and risks infection entering the wound site. We would also suggest that your animal should be current on its tetanus vaccinations before attempting this method.
We have seen goats that have been de-horned using this method, and if done properly there appears to be no or very little horn regrowth after many years. Again, this procedure on a mature goat will often alter its herd status so beware of the psycological impact this will have.
For photos and more information on dehorning goats with bands, click here, or for more examples on banding horns, click here.
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What is a poll goat?
A poll goat is one that is naturally hornless ie. it will never grow horns without needing to be disbudded. Poll is part of the goats genetic make up and there are many theories on the breeding of poll goats including the theory that you should not breed a poll to a poll goat as you have a high risk of breeding intersex kids. The accepted practice appears to be to breed a poll goat with a horned goat.
Our experience to date with breeding a poll to a horned goat is that about 50% of the resulting kids are poll. We will continue to update our experiences as we work to develop our poll line and try to achieve a 100% poll outcome in that line.
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All text and images contained herein are owned by and are copyright © 2003-6 Just Kiddin Mini Goats. None of the contents of this site may be reproduced or republished except where written permission is given by Just Kiddin Mini Goats. Information about Australian Miniature Goats has been gathered from personal experience, experiences of other Australian Miniature Goat breeders and members of the Australian Miniature Goat Association Inc (AMGA)
