# Folded over ear tips in baby boers



## Mimigwen

Well, I was right, both of the Boer does I put in the kiding pen kidded today. One while my son was getting ready for school, the other as I was getting ready to pick him up.

Minerva's birth was uneventful, she had a lovely blond/white buckling and a flashy red paint doeling. The doeling ears are folded over at the tips on both ears, the buckling on one ear. What do I need to do (or can I do) to help the ears straighten out. I'm assuming the cartidge will be soft for a few days yet (if they are anyting like puppies ayway), but I'd rather get on thp of this as quickly as I can.

Does this type of thing seems to have a genetic tendency? One of her doelings last year were folded over, but not as tightly as this doeling. 

Amelia had a single big red/white paint buckling. I had to help him out a bit, as she was really having a hard time passing his big-ol head. Neither of his ears are folded, and the sire to all three kids is the same. 

Any thoughts?

Mary


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## KymberLeAnn

I've heard of people taping cardboard to them to help them straighten out...


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## HoosierShadow

We've done the cardboard thing, but honestly if they are folded over tight, and the skin is connected, I'd probably just leave them alone.
We had a huge, really nice doe kid born last year like that, we started to fix her ears, but after 2 weeks it hadn't made much of a difference, so we just left her alone.

I'm not sure what causes it, but I've only ever noticed it in our does who have been heavily pregnant/big babies. 
The same doe that had that doeling last year <she was a 13lb. monster baby!>, had huge triplets a week and a half ago, one buck has a vertical fold <I most likely could fix it, and still might it didn't fold until after he was born!>, the large buckling has folded up ear tips, but they are not tight and are trying to straighten out a little on their own. Doeling has perfect ears.

Yet, our other doe who kidded triplets, the doe is a bigger doe, her triplets weren't nearly as big as the one above, and all have perfect ears.

I have heard that if does have kids with folded ears, then it can be a genetic thing too. 
So it could very well happen again. But if it's just the ear tips folded up, then I wouldn't let it bother me so much. Now, if she were throwing vertically folded ears more than 1x I'd be concerned, those are looked down on more than the folded ear tips.


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## Delilah

We had that happen a few times last year and the year before with the Nubians. To fix it we used breathe right strips on the inside of the year to straighten it out and then took off a few days later. We kept on repeating every time his ear folder back, his ear eventually fixed and was just like a regular ear.


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## HoosierShadow

This is the baby I mentioned above with the ear tips that were folded back tightly









We used small pieces of cardboard on each side of the ear and duct taped it - had to do more on her because mama kept trying to pull it off lol
It was very firm, but after a couple of weeks we saw absolutely no change, the ears were just too tightly folded 









She matured just fine, and became one of our best selling babies ever 









We have had one baby with a gently folded ear tip that we were able to fix with the above method, but just haven't had luck with the tight folds, especially if the skin is attached.

The verticle folds we've been able to fix with what we did in the pics above.

Basically you duct tape the cardboard on each side of the ear and just leave it on until it falls off, if it's not fixed by that time, then reapply. It can take 2-4 weeks.


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## Maggie

We have good luck if we put the cardboard on before the are 3 days. After that I haven't been able to get them to stay straight.


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## Texas.girl

Don't worry about it. Sport came to us with the same issue and eventually gravity fixed it. We did nothing about it but as he grew we noticed the ear slowly unfold and now it hangs down like it should.


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## KymberLeAnn

Two of my does had horizontal folds, but they seem to have relaxed in how tight they were.
I didn't do anything to them, but they sort of just flattened out and now look like a small outward curl of the ear.


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## caprine crazy

I wouldn't worry about it. If you show, it's not a fault in the show ring. IMO it's not a big deal.


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## goatgirl132

caprine crazy said:


> I wouldn't worry about it. If you show, it's not a fault in the show ring. IMO it's not a big deal.


Ok that's what i was wondering 
Thank you


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## toth boer goats

When it happens, I actually rip them the next day after birth, when they are dry. Then I take duct tape strips and tape it so the actual ripped part is not covered but exposed to the air, and make it to where, the tape holds the ear straight. It re-trains it. I then put iodine on it. Some folds are to severe for just card boarding to work, no matter how long the are taped and braced. Within 4 days, I remove the tape to see how they are. And most of the time they are fine. There are a few, that need re-ripped,in a spot,so, then I re-tape it again for a few more days. Some times, I will end up with a slight curl, but, that is cute on a Doe.  I hate doing it but, I don't like the flip, so I fix them. 
Just keep an eye on it for infection. 

I don't know the cause either, may be due to the way the kid sits in the womb?
It is OK in the show ring and to breed them and not frowned upon, it is just I do not prefer it. They do end up with a small scar.

It is the collapsed ear, you do not want , that is a bad trait.


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## lovemykidds

I showed a boer and they didn't discriminate against it, it's supposedly due to the lack of room in the womb and is more severe with the greater number of kids


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## goatgirl132

toth boer goats said:


> It is the collapsed ear, you do not want , that is a bad trait.


What exactly is a collapsed ear? And what does it look like?
thank you


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## HoosierShadow

That's the vertical fold I was talking about. Where the fold is up/down and the ear is folded closed.

We have a baby that was perfectly fine, and now he has a verticle fold, he wasn't born that way, never had that happen before! I even went back to look at pictures and make sure I wasnt' crazy lol
So tomorrow he'll get some cardboard and duct tape and hopefully straighten it out. He's going to be a market wether, so no big deal if his ear isn't perfect.

I am glad someone else mentioned that the eartips being folded up don't count against them in the show ring. I've seen some awesome does at the summer fairs with folded eartips and they were never counted against them.

We used to have a buck a couple of years ago, and you can tell someone cut his eartip off! I think he must have had folded ear tips and instead of them getting fixed, they cut the tip off!


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## KymberLeAnn

This is my doe who was born with folded ears. She is now two years old and like I said the fold sort of relaxed and just turned into a slight flip outward,..


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## BoerMomma

HoosierShadow, that is discusting how could anyone do that?! That is so cruel about the cutting of the tips... Some people are just sick. Poor goat!!


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## serenityfarmnm

BoerMomma said:


> HoosierShadow, that is discusting how could anyone do that?! That is so cruel about the cutting of the tips... Some people are just sick. Poor goat!!


I hope you are not personally attacking anyone on the board. I sincerely apologize as my first reading seems to have misread and I lectured you quite sternly.

My thanks to HAMILTON ACRES, for pointing it out!

:doh:


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## Texas.girl

I did nothing and Sport's ear unfolded on its own. I thought it was cute and not something that needed fixing.


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## serenityfarmnm

HamiltonAcresBoers said:


> I don't think that was an insult at all. Though the spelling may be off, Hoosier did mention that someone else cut the tips of her old bucks ears off. Not that she did it herself. I think that if you reread Hoosiers post you'll understand and realize that you just yelled at someone for no reason.. They were saying it was disgusting for someone else to cut their bucks ear tips clean off..


I could swear the word ANYONE was the word YOU. I t seemed very much directed at Toth!

If I read it wrong, I my DEEPEST apology goes to Momma!


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## clearwtrbeach

Is it possible to use something other than duct tape- don't get me wrong I love duct tape, bailing wire, and hay bale strings. With dogs, we' take a tongue depressor wrap a little cotton over the end put a little tape piece on it- just to keep the end of it from bothering the inner lower portion of the ear. We then used the white medical tape (not the paper tape) as it won't be as hard as duct tape. You can buy a roll where you buy bandaids. If I wan't showing I probably wouldn't worry about it since they are not folded vertically.


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## clearwtrbeach

With out going back and re reading again, and it seems one attack may have been removed from the thread. To the new people on the site- we are a 'keep it fun' board. We have children on here as well as adults. We post our view on a topic, people can choose to ignore what they don't believe or may not apply to them. However, first and foremost - as grandma always said- " If you don't have anything nice to say, DON'T say anything at all".


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## chelsboers

Having a folded tip is just a cosmetic issue. Like previous posts have stated it isn't a fault unless it's folded lengthwise. I've heard a lot of people pull the ear down right after birth to break the skin attached. I have one kid that was just born that has the tips folded. I'm not worried about it and will just leave it alone. There are worse genetic traits than a folded ear.


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## toth boer goats

goatgirl132 said:


> What exactly is a collapsed ear? And what does it look like?
> thank you


The ear is collapsed, it squeezes (collapses) vertically together, closing at the opening of the ear canal. Wish I could find a picture on the web but can't find one.


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## toth boer goats

serenityfarmnm said:


> I hope you are not personally attacking anyone on the board. I sincerely apologize as my first reading seems to have misread and I lectured you quite sternly.
> 
> My thanks to HAMILTON ACRES, for pointing it out!
> 
> :doh:


 It did start out to be, as if it was directed towards HoosierShadow, but, if you re-read what HoosierShadow said, "she knew someone that did this", then you are able to see, that the comment wasn't actually directed to her. Thank you for watching out here, I see where it could be taken a bit wrong.


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## chelsboers

I don't know if I can post the link but Toth is this what you are talking about?

http://www.motesclearcreekfarms.com/asp/articles/folded-ear.asp


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## toth boer goats

serenityfarmnm said:


> I could swear the word ANYONE was the word YOU. I t seemed very much directed at Toth!
> 
> If I read it wrong, I my DEEPEST apology goes to Momma!


"Anyone", means any person, that can do that. "You" means, it is commented directly to that person. 

I do rip the ears, if they come out curled, not cut them, so I really do not believe, anything was directed to me personally. I hate ripping them, but at birth, the skin is easier to rip. 

We have talked about this Topics before. Here are a couple of the Topics links if interested.

http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f197/curled-up-ears-again-128920/#p350330

http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f186/billy-ear-problem-124886/

In my opppion there was no attack on anyone here.

Anyone that reads something, that seems a bit off or rude. Please~!!! read and re-read all the comments before determining an outcome. If it is really out of line "report it". Then, we will go over it and confront the attacker if need be. Lets keep it friendly and fun


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## toth boer goats

chelsboers said:


> I don't know if I can post the link but Toth is this what you are talking about?
> 
> http://www.motesclearcreekfarms.com/asp/articles/folded-ear.asp


 Yes, thank you so much for finding that, I looked and looked. :hammer:


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## nancy d

Thanks for that link Chelsboers, it shows a severe vertical fold.
I had a doe with about half that on one ear. Like other faults, never to be seen again.
My doe did need her ear cleaned out periodically as ear eax would build up.


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## BoerMomma

I am so sorry if anyone took that the wrong way! Did not mean it like that at all. I was just bothered about her story of how someone cut off the tips of a goats ears! :0 I am a goat lover and did not mean for that to seem like an attack. Apologies! I will watch how I word things.


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## goatgirl132

nancy d said:


> Thanks for that link Chelsboers, it shows a severe vertical fold.
> I had a doe with about half that on one ear. Like other faults, never to be seen again.
> My doe did need her ear cleaned out periodically as ear eax would build up.


So are you saying (not that I'm in this perdicament) that if I had one nannies babbies with the fold then their their nannies wouldent necessarily have it and the 2nd litter of the orriginal Nannie wouldent necessaraly have it?


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## BoerMomma

This is a personal apology to HoosierShadow. I am very truly sorry if I offended you or Hurt your feelings I hope you understand what I was writing.  I was just agreeing with you! Thank you and sorry again.


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## goatgirl132

chelsboers said:


> I don't know if I can post the link but Toth is this what you are talking about?
> 
> http://www.motesclearcreekfarms.com/asp/articles/folded-ear.asp


Thank you so much for finding a picture for me


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## toth boer goats

Vertical folded ear goats, shouldn't be used breeding programs, unless it is for meat purposes. It will and can carry on that bad trait.


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## serenityfarmnm

BoerMomma said:


> I am so sorry if anyone took that the wrong way! Did not mean it like that at all. I was just bothered about her story of how someone cut off the tips of a goats ears! :0 I am a goat lover and did not mean for that to seem like an attack. Apologies! I will watch how I word things.


YOU did not misword I misread!!!!! You owe no apologies!


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## HoosierShadow

Here are a set of triplets we had born on 1-13. Pic was taken on 1-17.









For some reason in the past few days, the boy on the left has an ear that suddenly has a verticle fold









That is the kind of fold you don't want.

We've never had one fold closed like that more than a week after birth, so tonight I put cardboard/duct tape to try and get it to flatten out.

The kids have been planning to use the boys as market wethers, so it's not a huge deal, but I just do not like the vertical folded ears, eartips I can deal with.
-- The boy in the red sweaters eartips have actually gotten looser looking and may end up somewhat fixing themselves.


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## BoerMomma

Oh my goodness they are soooo flippin cute!!!!! LOVE them!!! (Heart)


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## nancy d

goatgirl132 said:


> So are you saying (not that I'm in this perdicament) that if I had one nannies babbies with the fold then their their nannies wouldent necessarily have it and the 2nd litter of the orriginal Nannie wouldent necessaraly have it?


That has been just my experience. None of her line has ever had it. One buckling had a vertical fold in another line. Naturally he went for meat.
Ive learned to look at that or any DQ fault this way, they WILL crop up now & then.
Just like double orifices. Only one doe with that. She always feed her kids fine & she has not passed it on.
Now. If any DQ show up on a regular basis then they would be culled.
It all depends on what your goals are.


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## toth boer goats

HoosierShadow said:


> Here are a set of triplets we had born on 1-13. Pic was taken on 1-17.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For some reason in the past few days, the boy on the left has an ear that suddenly has a verticle fold
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That is the kind of fold you don't want.
> 
> We've never had one fold closed like that more than a week after birth, so tonight I put cardboard/duct tape to try and get it to flatten out.
> 
> The kids have been planning to use the boys as market wethers, so it's not a huge deal, but I just do not like the vertical folded ears, eartips I can deal with.
> -- The boy in the red sweaters eartips have actually gotten looser looking and may end up somewhat fixing themselves.


 OMGoodness, they are so adorable. 
Wow, never heard of them doing that, days after they were born ,real bizarre for sure. :shrug:


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## Mimigwen

Thanks for all the responses, we decided to try and cardboard/tape, and see if it helped. I train/show Dobermans, so taping ears is something I've done a LOT over the years <Grin>.

I'm going to try and attach before and after photos. The before photos are right after birth, the ears have a fuse of cartildge, and I'm too squeamish to pull them apart and snap it. Not without anesthesia <G>.

Mary


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## Joe-T

The only thing you can do if the skin is attached together is to, please forgive me I know this sounds terrible, separated the skin that has grown together. About the only way this can be achieved is to pull the folded lower part of the ear away from the top part. Pull is really not the correct word, SNATCH is more a correct word. Holding the ear just above the fold and snatching the lower part away will give you a straight ear. Drown the area in Antiseptic. Its obviously painful, but its over in a few quick seconds. How badly do you want a straight ear?


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## Suzanne_Tyler

This is an old thread from 2013. I don't think most of these members are active anymore.


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