# We're getting a buck!



## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

We've been on the look out for a good, purebred french alpine buck for our FA girls, and today we found one for sale nearby! It's only 20-30 miles from here, and were probably going to pick him up this evening. He's around two months old, he can be reigistered, though frankly I'm not too worried about that, as we never sent in their papers. He's got horns, which may bother my dad a little, but I like them to have horns. I think they look cool.  he's also been dewormer, and they were about to give him his CDT shot, lol ( for those of us that have been discussing that) so the only thing to worry about is cocci., which I will be getting him tested for as soon as possible. He's a handsome fella, too, traditional FA color, cou clair.
We were almost done with the new buck pen anyway, and this will give us (or should I say my brother  ) the motivation to get it done quickly.
I will try to post a picture of him after we get him. 
We've borrowed a different buck I think every year since we got our does, because we didn't have a good place to keep a buck, and one time we bought one, but with the intention of selling him as soon as he'd done his job, which he did. So now well finallyhave one for keeps! I'm excited, if you couldn't tell. I love getting new animals, even if they are going to be stinky bucks.


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## TrinityRanch (Mar 26, 2013)

Awesome! Don't we all love those stinky bucks  Congrats!!! Will be on the lookout for pictures


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

TrinityRanch said:


> Awesome! Don't we all love those stinky bucks  Congrats!!! Will be on the lookout for pictures


Yeah, well he's still pretty much a baby, so hopefully he won't stink too bad for a while yet.  
And thanks!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

What blood lines?


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Don't know yet, it's so hard to fin FA around here, I'll take what I can get.  I'll let you know when I find out. The lady said she could send in the papers for me, then transfer, so I may not see em for a while.


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## thegoatgirl (Nov 27, 2011)

Congrats! I'm glad you found a good PB buck.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Thanks, Ariella! 
Well, we just got him home a little while ago. He's really friendly, especially for not being bottle fed. He was a little nervous from the drive at first, but we sat with him a while in the back of the truck, petted him and brought him some water and hay, and he calmed down real quick.
I went ahead and gave him some of my mollasses, water, salt and cinnamon tonic. He didn't like that at all, and tried to spit it out. 

Then I got my call back from the vet (I'd called earlier with some questions, but he wasn't available-doing a c-section on a cow, lol), and he said to go ahead and treat him for cocci, which I had pretty much decided to do anyway, so then I went out and dosed him for that. He took it very well. He's got a really calm, sweet disposition. I'm glad, because I don't want to be wrassling him when he's grown.  
The lady is going to send in the paper for me, and we'll be in contact, so everything went very well! Now all we have to do is name him!


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

congrats!!!

sounds like you'll have to post a pick of the little guy so we can all (a) drool over him; and (b) help you name him!


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## animalcowgirl (May 28, 2013)

Congrats! Good luck!  Looking forward to pics!


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

nchen7 said:


> congrats!!!
> 
> sounds like you'll have to post a pick of the little guy so we can all (a) drool over him; and (b) help you name him!


Lol ! Just as soon as I get done milking!


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Okay, this is kind of embarrassing... I need some advice.
So we put little dude in his new pen, all good, and we decide to let our Great Pyrenees/Anatolian in with him and see how they got along, because we were going to try to keep the new guy away from the rest of the herd for a while, and didn't want him to be lonely. 
Okay, so the dog was just laying there, not even interested in the goat, so I stupidly thought they'd be fine and went to milk with my younger siblings watching the dog and goat just in case.
Well, as soon as I'm out of sight, the dog proceeds to chase the goat all aroud the pen and scare him to death. I think he just wanted to play, but I'm mad at him anyway.
So this new buckling was disbudded, but it didn't take, and he has basically giant scurs from what i can tell. The dog did not bite him or hurt him, but I'm pretty sure the goat butted him or hit his head on the fence or something, and broke both of his "scurs" and they are bleeding. One was bleeding more, so I bandaged it with gauze and surgical tape after I cleaned it. The other seemed to be drying up already, so I left it. He hasn't had his CDT shot yet, I was going to see if the vet could come tomorrow and give all our goats the shots. What should I do?


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Anyone? Should I give him a shot, or put anything on his horns, or maybe let nature take it's course?
P.S. I would be posting pics right now, but the stupid camera won't turn on. It's disfunctional, sometimes it'll turn on, sometimes it won't. Sorry, pics tomorrow I guess.


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

If it were me, I'd just put some sort of medication on the broken scurs and let them dry in the open air. I don't like bandaging goats, especially around the head. I would clean it out daily and put stuff on it, but I would not wrap them. I wouldn't give him anything injectable unless there was some sign of infection. Both of my bucks have scurs and are forever knocking them off. They bleed, I clean and spray stuff on them and they heal up just fine.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I wouldn't stress him further by giving him an injection now... what I would do however is remove the dog and set him up where he can see the other goats and baby him until he settles down. I would however get the tetanus antitoxin and give it tomorrow, it will provide immediate protection for about a week, in that time you can give him the initial 2 cc dose of CD/T toxoid and booster it in 3 weeks.


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## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)

+1 on tetanus antitoxin


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

congrats on your new buck..

I agree with unwrapping it, let it air out...and a tetanus antitoxin shot, my boys have scurs too and boy they can play hard..they do bleed a lot and it can be scary but it wil be just fine..I clean the face if the blood got in his eyes or nose area..but other wise I let it alone..if it bleeds a long time then you can use blood stop...


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Thanks, everyoneI don't have the tetanus antitoxin yet, should we get it at the vets?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Tractor supply carries them...they are asmall 4 ml vile....give him 2 cc sub Q....just as a procaution.....you will need to reboost his CD&T if he had one..ten days after the Tetanus antitoxin..since one will cancel out the other ...


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

BTW, thank for answering my "SOS" , Cathy.  I wasn't sure how long it would take for others to respond. And Liz, of course I took the dog away immediately. I was pretty mad at him and myself, but these things will happen, I guess.
I was busy this evening after I asked y'all for help, or I would've answered sooner.
I went and checked on him tonight, and he's doing fine. I took the bandage off, and it's not bleeding anymore I don't think, though it did bleed quite a bit.
Oh, and I don't think we can put him any closer to the other goats, but he can see them in the distance, and he can definitely hear them! They were "talking" ever since we brought him home. He seems pretty calm tonight, considering. He was grazing quietly when I came out.
I freaked out a bit at the sight of the blood earlier, sorry. It bothers me more when it's one of my goats than if its me!
I'll try to do the pics in the morning.
Thanks again everyone! I'm so glad to have your help!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

glad all is calm now...im sure that shook you both up...


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

happybleats said:


> Tractor supply carries them...they are asmall 4 ml vile....give him 2 cc sub Q....just as a procaution.....you will need to reboost his CD&T if he had one..ten days after the Tetanus antitoxin..since one will cancel out the other ...


He did not have it yet, they offered to do it right before we loaded him up, but I was already considering getting the others done, and I didn't want to give it to him right before the drive, so I said we'd do them all at once.
Do you really think he needs the tetanus now, or could we give the CD&T to him now(tomorrow)? would that not work just as we'll? Sorry, I'm still trying to learn about all this vaccine business.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

dont be sorry : ) questions are good....

I would do tetanus antitoxin because its fast acting...does its job then leaves the body. CD&T is a toxoid..it goes to work slow and stays steady...with an injury, puncture or banding and disbudding..we need fast acting proctection...then in ten days you can givehis CD&T....you can wait on everyone and do it the same day so boosters are done the same day too..makes things easy to keep track of : )


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Thanks, Cathy!I'll see if I can get my dad to go to tractor supply in the morning. ONE more question: what should I put on his horns? All i could think of was Iodine or alcohol.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I would put something to keep the flies off like wound koat...if you can wash off some of the blood that might help with flies too...
the tetanus antitoxin is only a few dollars too..so I like to keep a few bottle handy..


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Gotta go to bed sometime, but it's hard! Talk to y'all tomorrow!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Been drawing blood and cleaning the outside..now I get to clean the inside lol night


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

I am using the (business use only iPad -for our markets) right now, and i can't figure out how to post pics with it, and I can't use the computer till later, so bear with me! 

Little buck is doing good this morning. I keep being amazed at how calm he is! They said he wasn't bottle fed, and one of their other doelings was not at all friendly, even thought they've had the same treatment. A couple of ours have been like that. Isn't it funny how different their personalities can be? 
I think he may be okay alone for a while. I don't know if we could leave him alone for 2 weeks, but I hope so, because the vet was saying that you should never put a new animal with your herd until they've been quarantined for a while, two weeks min. That makes sense to me, how about y'all?
I'm a little worried about his horns (scurs). See, I didn't realize until we were actually loading him that they were not just horns. Then the guy's like: "Yeah, we disbudded him but it didn't work to well. I didn't know boys were harder than girls"
I don't mind him having them, but I'm worried that since they're weaker than regular horns, he'll alway be breaking them on something, or break them off completely. I don't approve of dehorning at all. I think it's cruel, but I was wondering about banding? I know people band horns sometimes, but I have no idea how painful it is to the goats, or if it should even be considered. 
Anyone have any mthoughts on how to protect his horns if they're going to stay?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

scurs do break easier and will bleed when they do..I leave them alone...Thunder has big ones...but as long as it does not curve to his head I will leave them.We talked about having our vet remove them..but truly other than being unsightly...they dont bother anything..
Banding is an option..but if not done correctly they will grow back, and it can be painful...there are many who have had success doing it but I have a friend who banded her little doe...they grew back as actual horns but flat tipped lol...


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Congrats on your new buck!

I think the worst thing people can do when they purchase a new animal is to mess with them too much. Rehoming is a stressful process. Immunity will be down and becoming over stressed can bring on issues like a worm or cocci overload, illnesses, etc. I always tell my buyers...give the goat a week to just take it easy...don't mess with them too much. Let them slowly get used to their new home. If there is an issue like scurs or overgrown hooves (that aren't in need of immediate attention)...then just wait to work with the goat until a week or so has gone by. That will help them adjust and not become overstressed. 

I once heard from a kid buyer who got home and the next day said the kid isn't doing well. Said he was hot, had a fever (made them check), and isn't moving much. I asked more about what's been going on...has he been handled too much, how has he been acting today, etc. The gal said well my kids were chasing him around playing with him and he's been playing with our dog. It was in the 90s that week too. This was just the day they got him home! The kid was dam raised and not a real friendly one. He had never been away from the herd, never been with dogs, etc. Stress can bring a goat down quickly, so you have to be careful with how much you do with them once they're home. Take is slow and give him time to adjust to the changes. :thumb:


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Well, poor guy had some stress yesterday, but it's pretty calm out there today. He's got his pen all to himself and he seems okay with that. We're going to check on him a lot to make sure he's okay. He's got shade, water and minerals and all the grass he can eat. The only prob. is that its super hot today. I think I'll put some ice in his water, while waiting for a bottle to freeze to use later.I'd be more worried about the stress level, but he's just such a calm goat, I don't think he's going to have any big problems with anything.

Still can't use the computer yet.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

you can make a bucket of home made electros to sit next to his water as well..let him choose to drink it or not...this will keep him hydrated through this humind heat we have today...air is thick as cotton here today...another trick I learned is to freeze a gallon size water or milk jug...sit it on the ground in a shaded area and wrap and old twisted towel around the botton near the ground..what this does is ...the heat melts the ice..the towel soaks up the water and, the air helps creates a air conditioning effected when animals lay near it...goof for dogs, bunnies, goats ...of course you can be sure they will lick the jub and chew on the towel lol..so keep a close eye on it...once the jug is melted remove it for safty..


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

always get papers if possible you never know when you might breed "the one"!!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

enchantedgoats said:


> always get papers if possible you never know when you might breed "the one"!!


Haha, 'the one". Yep, can't tell you how many times that has happened to me. Hadn't sent in dam's papers or grand dam's papers, sometimes not even the bucks. So I had a mess to sort out so I could register all of my "the one" goats.
Just goes to show, always keep your papers in order, and always get papers on what you buy!


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

happybleats said:


> you can make a bucket of home made electros to sit next to his water as well..let him choose to drink it or not...this will keep him hydrated through this humind heat we have today...air is thick as cotton here today...another trick I learned is to freeze a gallon size water or milk jug...sit it on the ground in a shaded area and wrap and old twisted towel around the botton near the ground..what this does is ...the heat melts the ice..the towel soaks up the water and, the air helps creates a air conditioning effected when animals lay near it...goof for dogs, bunnies, goats ...of course you can be sure they will lick the jub and chew on the towel lol..so keep a close eye on it...once the jug is melted remove it for safty..


Sound like a good idea, Cathy, I'll have to try that!
Right now he has his choice of a large empty cow trough turned sideways or some plywood leaning on the barn to lay under for shade. His water's under the shade too. 
I'm sorry I haven't done the pics yet. I just found out that the camera actually had a reason not to turn on this time; namely, out of battery.
So gotta charge it for a while, after I find the charger, lol.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

HERE they are finally!  You can see the dumb dog in one of the pics. Normally he sleeps all day long; he's very lazy.

I was wondering, -I know these aren't the best pics for it- does anyone think he's got good conformation? I know virtually nothing about it, so I'd like to know what ya'll think.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

P.S. I know his coat's a little rough; I don't know IDK if the people were giving any minerals or not. And I suspect cocci. , which I'm treating him for. They said he had been wormed, but I think I'll de-worm him anyway soon, just to be sure. Or maybe get a fecal done. I gave him some free choice molasses with other goodies in it, but I don't think he's going to drink it anytime soon. I did manage to squirt some down his throat yesterday, figured he could use a boost after the ride. I could give him some more that way this evening.

No name yet- we're thinking maybe Storm or something like that, since he's got kind of gray/black and white coloring, like storm clouds.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

P.P.S. I finally figures out how to do my avatar! Silly me, I thought it was profile picture, and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working!


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Here's the pic from the ad on craigslist. It's from a better angle.The people said they show goats, so they've got the posing down well. He's also trained to lead, which is more than I can say for our doelings; though I have begun training them. Just haven't gotten to it this week.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

hes beautiful!! Love his markings....onhis scurs/horns...feel them next to skull...if they are loose on the scull they will wiggle being unattached...those are scurs...if they are on solid..stuck to the skull they are horns...Looks to me they cut his horns when small..not burned...I could be worng now...since the pix are not focused on them...I had a doe who when I saw the add had tiny horns...when we picked her up they were gone...well they wanted to show her before selling her so cut those babies right off with horse nippers...they grew back awkward and a mess ..they were still horns since the horn bed was not burned...they were firmly attached...she would still break them off..just not at the base...but up higher..so they were never an issue..just was a mean thing to do to her IMO...


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

He looks nice in the posed pics, the others made it look like he had a VERY steep rump. But it is much nicer in the pose.
How are his hind legs though??? Do they toe out? It might be the pic, but it looks like her toes out in the back.
I'm not fond of the wattles on him, IMO no goat except toggs and crosses should have them, but it isn't a fault. 

I forgot... how old is he?

And he could be a tad longer bodied, but now I'm being picky, he's just a baby!

But you cannot show him with horns.

Overall, he is a nice little cou blanc


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Never mind on the age, I went back and read it. He is a very nice size for 2 months. Got a lot of growing to do!


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Little-Bits-N-Pieces-ADG said:


> He looks nice in the posed pics, the others made it look like he had a VERY steep rump. But it is much nicer in the pose.
> How are his hind legs though??? Do they toe out? It might be the pic, but it looks like her toes out in the back.
> I'm not fond of the wattles on him, IMO no goat except toggs and crosses should have them, but it isn't a fault.
> 
> ...


 I'll get a picture of him from behind; I haven't really paid attention to his hind legs- like I said I know nothing about conformation.
And we don't intend to show at all. He's for our FA girls, so we can get a few good PB does out of them hopfully. Wev'e wanted to from the start, but we had too many goats several times, and never got to keep any doelings from them. They are awesome producers, though, and I'd really like to keep their some of their offspring.
This year one of our girls was giving 2 1/4 gallons a day, milking twice, but I think they could've given more if fed higher quality feed/hay so on. WE don't need that much though, so we're milking once a day now.

Cathy, I'll check his horns, see how they feel. They said "disbudded", so I assume they burned them, but I could be wrong. Offhand, I did notice that they seem to feel... almost hollow, somehow not as solid as horns, so I assumed they were scurs.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Here's a few more pictures- I got a couple up close of his horns so you can tell me what you think. And I felt them at the base; they don't wiggle at all. I was surprised, because it looked to me last night like they had both cracked in the front. I guess I thought horns would be stronger than that. 
BTW, as you can see the blood has dried and you can't even tell he was bleeding anymore.

Oh, and I don't know how to get him into the right position for conformation critique. So the pic from behind may not have been the best.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Oh, good good! His hind legs are nice, the left rear turns out in the pic, but I'm 99% sure that it's from the way he is standing.
Nice little buckling, should throw some nice kids. It's nice to hear some Alpines out there producing at expectation =)


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Little-Bits-N-Pieces-ADG said:


> Oh, good good! His hind legs are nice, the left rear turns out in the pic, but I'm 99% sure that it's from the way he is standing.
> Nice little buckling, should throw some nice kids. It's nice to hear some Alpines out there producing at expectation =)


Thanks! I'm glad he meets the standard! 
I forgot to mention I got to see his dam at the place. I didn't get a real good look at her, but she looked a lot like him. Her coloring was the same, and she had wattles too, guess that's where he got them (I used to not like wattles, bit now I think they can be cute)... Oh, and the best part: she had a real nice udder- good attachment, no sagging at all, and teats you could get a handle on but not too big!
Which is great, because our does have VERY small teats. When we got them, we were newbies, and they said that they'd get longer over time, and I guess they have, but they were so tiny to begin with that they are still too small for normal sized hands. Ugh. Really hoping he throws some kids with great udders and nice teats.
I'm seriously considering banding his horns if they continue to be a problem, but I'll wait a few weeks and see how he does before I decide anything.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Oh, I get fed up with itty bitty teated does, they don't stay. The does I have now have palm length teats, super easy to milk.
I bet he'll look great with a clip! It will really show how crisp his colors are and make him look sleek and glossy.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

he's adorable!!! congrats on the guy!!!! I love his markings! I also used to not like wattles, but they're growing on me. soo cute!

now names, I like Storm. or Domino, Oreo, Panda?


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

nchen7 said:


> he's adorable!!! congrats on the guy!!!! I love his markings! I also used to not like wattles, but they're growing on me. soo cute!
> 
> now names, I like Storm. or Domino, Oreo, Panda?


Thanks nchen! 
Yeah, we got a doe with one wattle once, and it's kind of cute on her, but it looks a little uneven. But her daughter had these two longish wattles on her neck, and it was soo cute! They were very even and matched, but one had a white tip, and one did not. It looked like a little necklace. After that, I didn't mind wattles anymore.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Bump- I want Cathy to see his horns, tell me what she thinks.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

those look like horns to me..they may have cut then burned them if they waited to long and it didnt take....but if they dont wiggle...they are firm on the skull then they are horns... I would not worry too much about that...they may grow funky where you need to trim them but scurs do too ...the difference is scurs usually break at the base and take a while to grow back but horns dont...plus the snipping and burning weaken the top part..which is most likely why they cracked...Im not saying they did what the owner of my doe did..just to show...most likely just waited to long and hoped the snip and burn would work..he is a very handsome guy..ant see why his horns would change that...you did good in picking him


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Yeah, he turned out great, better than I expected. For him to have such a great personality is unexpectedly nice. I mean, when he's big you don't want to be messing with a mean goat!His horns ARE solid at the base, but when he busted them it looked like they were cracked at the base. It was hard to tell how much, though, because blood is so dark and his hair was in the way. They were bleeding at the base, so do you think maybe they're just a tad weaker than usual?
I've never had a goat bust his horns to where they bled like that. I'm a little worried that when we put my Nigie buck with him, he'll bust him up -being Mr. Macho with big horns.
Oh, one more question: is there any way to -how shall I put this? - be able to tell if he... works? I mean, when breeding season hits, I don't want to be stuck with a sterile buck, (we've had that happen before, borrowed a buck and had to buy a goat in milk the next year, as none of ours were) not that I have any reason to think he would be, but I don't want that to happen, so I was wondering if there is some kind of tip on how to know if he's going to do his job?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

if they did burn the horns the yes I woud think that would weaken them..he might have a few bloody fights..but he should be fine..I find sometimes I need to put somethingon the bleeding but usually all is fine..
as for fertility...Nope..as far as I know..its in the showing lol...unless you have his sperm tested...Im sure if he has both testes and they are formed normal..I dont see why he wont be able to proove himself


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Alright, good! I didn't want to band his horns. I like goats to keep their horns whenever possible. I think they look nicer and they probably feel better, too.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

they do help release heat : )


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