# Goat's age by horn rings?



## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

Just something I wondered about when looking at Karma's horns (5 rings). Are they like trees? :laugh: I read that this is true of Mountain Goats, that you can tell their age by the number of rings on their horns because they get new growth each winter, but is it true of all goats?
I'm probably just delirious after working all day finishing up the new buck pen and shelter but is it true? If somebody doesn't mind counting the rings on their goat's horns and letting me know :ROFL:


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## ZipperDoo (Apr 18, 2010)

Hm, from what I can tell the answer is no. My goat Penny is a yearling, and her horns have 5 rings each.


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## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

No, I don't think that would work because diet can effect horn growth tremendously. An interesting thought though.


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

Thank you guys! I was just curious.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Age is best determined by teeth and even better when you know their birthday....I also go by the wear on the front of the horns, using my own goats as reference....Bootsie is turning 10 years old on Friday and though her horn rings number 20 the wear on her horn front is totally flat, my 6 year old buck has 10 horn rings and his wear is rounded and a bit concave in the front..... my goats do not have tree's to rub their heads on but they do rub quite a bit on the wall of the barn.


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