# File down goats horns?



## erica4481

My whether loves to rub his head and horns up and down my legs whenever I'm around him which is all the time  he was my very first goat and he was bottle fed so he is a big baby. He is 1 1/2 yrs old. The tips of his horns are very sharp. He doesn't mean to but he bruises and scratches my legs when he pokes and rubs me. I constantly look like someone has beat me with a stick or something. i don't want to band his horns or anything like that. And I don't want to do anything hat will hurt him but I am just wondering if I can file them down a little so that they aren't so sharp without causing him any pain. And if so how should I go about doing it?


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## janeen128

I'm in the same boat with my 2 wethers. I have been told to tape a tennis ball on to them. I haven't done this, as mine are a year old and pretty much do the same thing. I'm thinking filing would hurt them though. Not sure.


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## erica4481

janeen128 said:


> I'm in the same boat with my 2 wethers. I have been told to tape a tennis ball on to them. I haven't done this, as mine are a year old and pretty much do the same thing. I'm thinking filing would hurt them though. Not sure.


I've already did the tennis balls . They don't stay on unless you cut a hole in each of the balls and cut a stick about a foot long and put each end of the stick in the hole of the ball and put a screw through the ball into the very ends of the stick and then I taped the stick across his horns and it worked great but I used it to keep him from getting his head stuck in the fence but it also worked to keep him from poking me. But it made his horns grow a little weird so I took it off.


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## goatgirl132

You could take off about an inch if that without hurthing them so if you canted to just make the point rounded it should work

Some people in the show world will acctually take a sander to their horns to make them look "pretty"


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## erica4481

goatgirl132 said:


> You could take off about an inch if that without hurthing them so if you canted to just make the point rounded it should work
> 
> Some people in the show world will acctually take a sander to their horns to make them look "pretty"


Will it bleed if I take an inch off


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## erica4481

janeen128 said:


> I'm in the same boat with my 2 wethers. I have been told to tape a tennis ball on to them. I haven't done this, as mine are a year old and pretty much do the same thing. I'm thinking filing would hurt them though. Not sure.


I just found something else hat might work for you. I'm gonna try it too. Kong dog toys supposedly you can just twist them on and they stay. Tennis balls don't work


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## goatgirl132

erica4481 said:


> Will it bleed if I take an inch off


Depending on how long they are. Go slow dont just jump to taking an inch off you should be able to wifhout a problem though


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## precious

How long would you leave it on the tips I have 4 - 6 babies that could use an inch or two taken off the tips.


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## Kaneel

You can just cut the tips off  We do it with all our horned show goats at my school. All you do is take a saw and take em off! Take about an inch or two off(till the horns are about the diameter of a dime). Yes, they will most likely bleed, a lot. However, my doe didn't bleed at all, and we took more off of her than another goat we did, so it just depends on the goat I guess. Just get some QuikStop(the stuff they use to stop bleeding in dogs' nails when they clip them) and that will work  After they heal you can sand the edges down so they are rounded, and not just sharp angles. This is a somewhat temporary solution, it lasts for _at least_ 6 months though, my one doe already has the tips back, however my other is still going good. It might help to sand them down as often as possible, I think that's what kept my one doe's horns still rounded.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

PS: It doesn't hurt the goats much, they will scream(some don't), but it's only really a pinch, I think it's really just the surprise and stress of it. Goats are _huge_ babies after all


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## MsScamp

goatgirl132 said:


> Depending on how long they are. Go slow dont just jump to taking an inch off you should be able to wifhout a problem though


You are addressing the symptoms, not the issue. Wouldn't it be a better idea to solve the problem?


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## Brooke Soukup

Kaneel said:


> You can just cut the tips off  We do it with all our horned show goats at my school. All you do is take a saw and take em off! Take about an inch or two off(till the horns are about the diameter of a dime). Yes, they will most likely bleed, a lot. However, my doe didn't bleed at all, and we took more off of her than another goat we did, so it just depends on the goat I guess. Just get some QuikStop(the stuff they use to stop bleeding in dogs' nails when they clip them) and that will work  After they heal you can sand the edges down so they are rounded, and not just sharp angles. This is a somewhat temporary solution, it lasts for _at least_ 6 months though, my one doe already has the tips back, however my other is still going good. It might help to sand them down as often as possible, I think that's what kept my one doe's horns still rounded.
> 
> Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
> 
> PS: It doesn't hurt the goats much, they will scream(some don't), but it's only really a pinch, I think it's really just the surprise and stress of it. Goats are _huge_ babies after all


How long before they grow back usually?


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## Brooke Soukup

Kaneel said:


> You can just cut the tips off  We do it with all our horned show goats at my school. All you do is take a saw and take em off! Take about an inch or two off(till the horns are about the diameter of a dime). Yes, they will most likely bleed, a lot. However, my doe didn't bleed at all, and we took more off of her than another goat we did, so it just depends on the goat I guess. Just get some QuikStop(the stuff they use to stop bleeding in dogs' nails when they clip them) and that will work  After they heal you can sand the edges down so they are rounded, and not just sharp angles. This is a somewhat temporary solution, it lasts for _at least_ 6 months though, my one doe already has the tips back, however my other is still going good. It might help to sand them down as often as possible, I think that's what kept my one doe's horns still rounded.
> 
> Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
> 
> PS: It doesn't hurt the goats much, they will scream(some don't), but it's only really a pinch, I think it's really just the surprise and stress of it. Goats are _huge_ babies after all


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## toth boer goats

This is a very old post.

It looks like it was mentioned, that it lasts for _at least_ 6 months, when they grow back.


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