Have you ever wondered, “should I dehorn my goat or not?”. Well the answer to that question is completely up to you.
The pros and cons of dehorning a goat:
Pros:
- You don’t have to worry about getting hurt, and the goats won’t hurt each other. Getting hurt is not necessarily going to happen, unless you have goats that are mean or are super greedy for food.
- Horns get caught in the fence. There is a solution to this, get a fence that goats can’t get their heads through. Even without horns, if a goat sticks it’s head through the fence and gets butted by another goat they can get hurt.
Cons:
- Goats horns can actually help cool them down. The blood circulates inside cooling them down.
- If you hold the disbudding tool on the goats head too long, it can cause brain damage. But, not holding it on long enough can cause the horns to only be partially burnt so they still grow.
- If you already have horned goats then you can’t have a goat without horns because the horned goats will bully the one without horns.
- It gives you something to grab when you’re trying to catch them. Even if they’re friendly, they will still try to get away when they need to be caught.
Personally, I like horns because they look cool, and it’s easier to catch them with horns. Some goats are naturally polled so if you want a goat without horns consider finding a naturally polled goat. I hope this helps you understand the pros and cons of disbudding a goat.
Big Green Acres 