# Why does my buck scrape & rub his horns on things?



## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

HELP! A very nice man lets me keep my San Clementes on his land in exchange for fence repair & brush control. A big problem has started lately which is jeopardizing the situation. My buck Sam has always liked to shove his horns into things & basically destroy them. Now he has started inserting his 2 foot long horns into the spaces of the chainlink fence outside this guy's bedroom window & yanking them around very noisily at THREE AM!! He describes the sound as someone playing a giant guitar with a saw. 

Does anyone know why he does this? Is he marking territory or what? Does he need something like an equivalent of a cat's scratching post? He has lots of trees available already. I think he would manage to remove anything I put in his horns, but I'm open to all suggestions. I certainly can't afford different fencing.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

I have seen someone put a length of hose on each end and then screwed it onto the tips...


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

I don't have an answer but it must be a universal buck thing. Mine has taken up repeatedly butting the fence and barn, until he gets my attention, then he stops and is back to his normal happy self.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

I suggest running a couple strands of electric wire along the inside of the fence. It sounds like your guy has plenty of other things to scrape his horns on, so there's no reason for him to destroy the fencing. If you buy an electric fencer, be proactive and run wire along the entire enclosure so you never have to deal with him destroying other sections of fence. 

If electric is not an option, maybe you could at least cover that one section of chain link with some sheets of plywood. 

If there is any concern that your buck will destroy the trees then you definitely want to wrap or fence off the trees and look into building some kind of horn scratching post so he has an appropriate outlet.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

He does it cause he can. A goat with horns knows it has horns and just likes to use them. Once they find a fun thing to do with them, its kinda hard to teach em not to. I like the suggestion of hot wire. May only need to have it up a short time before he gets zap enough times to learn.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

So I get a piece of garden hose & put an end on each horn tip? I don't want to damage his horns with screws but maybe some good glue could work--the horns are a very important part of the breed's standard. Someone else said they epoxied tennis balls over their goat's horn tips-but tennis balls are hollow so I don't know how I would glue them. Just dealing with his horns & not 100s of feet of fencing sounds much more affordable.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

He is supposed to destroy all the little trees there, luckily, because he's doing that too! I covered about 15 feet of fencing near the bedroom window with tarps & they are still there. I also did not get any more complaints---yet. My goats always seem to be a step or 2 ahead of me, so he might just pick out a new section of fence to play with. We are hoping no neighbors are/were being bothered by his noisiness, & I'd really rest a lot easier if I didn't have to worry that he's bothering people. Unfortunately I can't afford electric fencing or enough plywood to cover the entire length of the chainlink, but I'd like to replace the tarps with something less tacky looking.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Unfortunately, you're probably not going to get very far with putting anything on the ends of the horns. It quite simply does not stay put. If your goat can destroy a fence or tree with his horns, believe me--he can destroy or remove a couple of tennis balls or a piece of glued-on rubber hose in a few minutes. He probably loves the sound his horns make on the chain link. For a lot of goats, the more racket a thing makes, the better they like it. 

I'll bet you could run electric for around $150-200. The charger is by far the most expensive part. Wire is very cheap. It may sound steep at first blush, but think what it might cost if your goat wrecks the fence and gets loose. If something happens to him or he destroys a neighbor's landscaping you could be in for a lot more than the cost of an electric fence. There's also the ongoing cost of repairing your current fence and the risk of losing free board. 

I did a little research on the San Clemente breed since I'd never heard of it before. They're beautiful goats with an interesting history! I hope you can figure out a solution that works for you. A buck from a rare heritage breed is a valuable animal.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I don't think it's a garden hose it's one of those but hoses like what comes out of the drain of a washing machine. I don't see a garden hose fitting very well on there. 
I do second the electric fence. That's the best invention when it comes to bucks! I'm not sure what the issue is with bucks and their horns. I think I'm also going with the 'they do it because they can' idea lol


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## VVFarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Because he can!:ROFL:
You could try duct taping a dowel across his horns. This works well for goats that get their heads stuck in fences and seems at least worth a try on this guy. 
Otherwise, the electric wire sounds like the way to go.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

I might try duct taping things to his horns-it would be easy to re-do when he gets it off, & easy to remove if it doesn't work out. I'm even thinking of just wrapping the entire length of each horn in tape & see if that reduces the noise he's able to make with the fence. It will be interesting to see how quickly he rids himself of the tape. At least it will give him something to do. I just wish I could find something that he'd like rubbing his horns on better than the fence-like finding your cat's dream scratching post so it leaves the couch alone.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

All have great advice. 

I agree, put up a hotline, he won't do it anymore in that area.


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