# Help! the goats are eating the horses' tails!



## BlueMoonSpot (May 11, 2012)

I love my little goats but sometimes they are a nuisance. I have two Nigerians and two horses all living together in a pasture, and the goats are ruining the horse's tails. I guess they nibble at it and the horses don't care. They've even gone after my sister's horse's forelock. Needless to say, she's not very happy about it. We don't show or anything, but it's annoying to see our horses' tails so messed up. Do any of you have ideas on ways to keep the goats from using the horses as chew toys?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I don't have horses but have seen where the tails can be braided or wrapped to deter nibblers.

I have one mama doe who has a sparse 4 inch beard, each kidding season...it gets trimmed off neatly by her kids


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## dobe627 (Oct 16, 2007)

If you can "bag" the tail like you would a pregnant mare, but then they can't keep flys away.


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

You may have to separate them for a while. Keep them separate for a month or so then put them back together and see if the habit is broken.


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

I would separate them permanently. Some goats will eat the tails down to the skin. I don't let my goats anywhere near my horses.


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## BlueMoonSpot (May 11, 2012)

Yeah, the flies are starting to appear so I don't think a tail bag would work. We've been talking for a while about building a small pen inside the pasture...if it gets built I guess I could try separating them for a while.

I think if I talked about separating them permanently, my dad would make me get rid of them.


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

Have you actually seen the goats doing it?


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## BlueMoonSpot (May 11, 2012)

Yes, a couple of times. I think it's just the baby (well, she's one now). She even munches their chestnuts. =P My sister's horse is more tolerant, so her mane and forelock have been chewed, too. With my mare, it's just the ends of her tail.


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

I wonder if you could just dip their tail in something that tastes bad,. I would imagine that would stop them from chewing it..


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

BlueMoonSpot said:


> Yes, a couple of times. I think it's just the baby (well, she's one now). She even munches their chestnuts. =P My sister's horse is more tolerant, so her mane and forelock have been chewed, too. With my mare, it's just the ends of her tail.


Hmm. Interesting. Well, those horses love those goats. It would probably bum them out if you separated them.


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## BlueMoonSpot (May 11, 2012)

Yeah. I know the goats would be upset. They cry whenever we take the horses out.

We have some bitter grapefruit spray stuff, but it ends up everywhere so we haven't resorted to using it yet...


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

When we had horses, the goats would eat the tails and my daughter went crazy.

What she did is put the tail in a tail bag. It is very important to do something like that. Please do that, I went to a tour of CSU Vet School and they were showing us all kinds of things that they have taken out of goats. They showed us UC crystals and things. 

One thing they found a lot was tails from horses, bailing twine, and tarps. It was horrible seeing all the stuff they have taken out. 

My sister had a goat and horse that was like that. They do really form a bond, so taking the away from eachother is not always the answer.


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## critergiter09 (Jan 4, 2012)

KymberLeAnn said:


> I wonder if you could just dip their tail in something that tastes bad,. I would imagine that would stop them from chewing it..


I like this idea. Maybe pouring hot sauce or something like that on their tails. Once the goats get a nibble and don't like it, maybe they won't try to nibble. And after they learn to not chew the horses hair anymore you can not put anymore on there.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using GoatSpot


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## BlueMoonSpot (May 11, 2012)

Thanks for all your help, everyone. =) I think I'm going to try vaseline and cayenne pepper, which I read about last night. I'll also keep an eye out for tail bags for sale just to have on hand. Sweetgoats, can the goats' bodies just not digest the horse hair?

(I've been combing out the goats' winter fuzz to save for stuffing a pillow or something, and if I don't hold the bucket out of their reach, they eat their own fur. *facepalm* Weirdo goats.)


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## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

I know with horses, babies in particular, tail/hair chewing is a result of calcium deficiency.

Don't forget, that whatever you put on their tails, will end up all over themselves!


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

BlueMoonSpot said:


> Thanks for all your help, everyone. =) I think I'm going to try vaseline and cayenne pepper, which I read about last night. I'll also keep an eye out for tail bags for sale just to have on hand. Sweetgoats, can the goats' bodies just not digest the horse hair?
> 
> (I've been combing out the goats' winter fuzz to save for stuffing a pillow or something, and if I don't hold the bucket out of their reach, they eat their own fur. *facepalm* Weirdo goats.)


 No they do not digest it. They said the goat dies and that is what they marked as the cause. It was a ball of like horse tail that was the size of Volleyball. It was huge. We asked how it lived that long with it in the goat, they said they had no idea. It was horible.

Also, watch the pepper, as the hrse moves the tail, it will get in the eyes of the goat.


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## BlueMoonSpot (May 11, 2012)

I mixed up petroleum jelly and cayenne pepper and put that on my horse's tail, but I don't know if it will work because Stella (the younger goat) licked it off my hands. =P

The next thing I'm going to try is to give the goats their loose mineral consistently. Right now they get it in a bowl in their igloo, but they tip it over and sometimes the horses stick their heads in and pick at it...so I need to make a proper mineral feeder.


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

First rule out dietary deficiencies that might be increasing their urge to nibble hair. Though it may now be a habit and even if you do have a dietary deficiency fixing it might not break the habit. You can tail-bag and if flies are a concern it is easy to use some string to make a fly swatter tassel at the bottom of the tail bag. 

I don't put my goats out with horses because I had this issue with my first goat decades ago and she ended up almost dying on me because she had a massive hairball in her belly. And also because it made my ponies look ridiculous. And now I have a Gypsy Horse and if they ate the hair off of him they would all die from hairballs, lol, and he would look bald.


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