# Is she polled?



## Daisy (Sep 24, 2012)

I have a 3 year old nigerian dwarf doe. I'm wondering how to tell if she is polled or not. Her AGS registration says polled but ADGA papers say disbudded, I'm wondering why they have two different things. Sorry I don't have any better close up pictures haha. Can someone tell me what to look for. She seems to have two bumps where horns would be without hair on them.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Hmm. I have a polled buck. He has similar bumps on his head as to what you are drescribing. It's just weird about the papers.


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## goatylisa (Dec 29, 2012)

"She seems to have two bumps where horns would be without hair on them."

Then I would say she was disbudded, my polled does have smooth rounded heads. BUT I have polled wethers and bucks that have scurs that will pop off and never grow a true horn. In their case you can feel a little rough patch where each horn would be. I was told I was a rare duck for "polled with scurs'' it doesn't usually occur. In their case their heads are still more rounded on top than a disbudded goat. The hair doesn't peak at each horn point either like a horned goats would it's more swirled around the top.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

She kind of has a polled look about her. It could have been a mess up on the papers.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

When I am home on friday or saturday, I will get a picture of my polled buck for you so you can see the top of his head.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

goatylisa said:


> "BUT I have polled wethers and bucks that have scurs that will pop off and never grow a true horn.


Polled goats would not grow scurs. Only dis budded goats would.

Polled goats typically have round bumps on the top covered by hair if they arent rubbing or fighting the hair off. Ill take a pick of a polled togg/alpine cross buck to give an idea. I will also take a pick of his togg dam who is also polled. Bucks of course will have bigger bumps then a doe.


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## Daisy (Sep 24, 2012)

She had 4 bucklings this last spring and I think two of them may have been polled, I never even thought about it until more recently when I noticed her AGS papers said polled. I kept checking the boys for nubs and on 2 of them I could feel horn buds for sure but then other 2 felt more like rounded bumps. I hired someone to do the disbudding of our kids this year because we are beginners with goats, she disbudded all of them but now I'm wondering if they might have been polled...


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

I don't know but she is stinking cute!


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

All of my does are disbudded and all have a small bald spot where the horns were. If you part the hair on the top of their heads you can feel a smooth bald spot, if they are shaved it is very easy to see. I would assume if she is polled she would not have these bald spots.

I've always heard it is not good to disbud a polled kid, not sure exactly what can happen but I have heard that if you think they may be polled it is best to wait and see.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Ok took a bunch of pictures though you cant really tell the difference. Some had little bald patches where the burns were others, looked as if the hair grew over the burns. But the biggest thing I noticed was that disbudding leaves a flat area where the horns were and polled are just nice rounded bumps about the size of a ping pong ball.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Daisy said:


> She had 4 bucklings this last spring and I think two of them may have been polled, I never even thought about it until more recently when I noticed her AGS papers said polled.


I would say she is polled with possibly a recessive horn gene? I have a doe like this. She has the rounded bumps, however, she always kids with triplets and 1 or 2 kids - the number varies from year to year - never grow horns. No nubs or anything. The other 1, maybe 2 do grow horns. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen and goes against everything I know about horned genetics.


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## goatylisa (Dec 29, 2012)

TDG-Farms said:


> Polled goats would not grow scurs. Only dis budded goats would.


I wouldn't be so quick to make a blanket statement such as that. I've never disbudded a goat in my life and all my polled goats have come from my breedings. This line started with a purchased buckling from Charlie Goggin-Carolyn Eddy's line that has since passed.


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

goatylisa said:


> I wouldn't be so quick to make a blanket statement such as that. I've never disbudded a goat in my life and all my polled goats have come from my breedings. This line started with a purchased buckling from Charlie Goggin-Carolyn Eddy's line that has since passed.


i have heard that polled to polled breeding often results in hermaphrodites, have you found this to be so?


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I also have heard of some polled goats growing tiny scurs.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I currently have an 8 year old polled doe... she never gave me a polled kid until she was bred with a polled buck and even then only 2 of the 3 kids were polled.
The 2nd polled buck she was bred to resulted in 3 polled kids  ALL appear to be normal and the doeling I retained has had 2 normal heat cycles as she is 6 months old.

Polled status on any goat can appear a number of ways, giraffe polled, meaning that there are rounded high bumps on the head, smooth polled meaning that there is only low bumps over the brow and scurred polled, being more common in bucks due to the testosterone, I have 2 polled bucks, one is 2 1/2 years old, bumps but no scurs, the second is 3 months old, again just bumps.
The senior polled doe I have is listed as polled with 3 registries, her dam Brush Creek Journey is polled, her sire is disbudded/horned. My doe has bumps across her brow and a break behind them, the first polled buck she was bred with was marked as horned/disbudded but was found to be polled simply because of the horned does he was bred with that resulted in polled kids.

Polled kids are easily recognized at birth... especially if you have had horned kids born, polled babies have a tennis ball head with hair that looks like fuzz, no parts or swirls and though you may feel bumps, they are rounded at the top and the skin slides over them... horned kids have pointy bumps and the skin will not slide over them.

As far as polled/polled breedings resulting in sexual defects, studies have shown that those ocurrances happen in just as many horned/horned and horned/polled breedings. 
I have breedings planned for 2014 that include my polled senior buck as well as my jr should he be ready, the milk genetics behind both boys are the reason I got them, the polled is a plus


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## Daisy (Sep 24, 2012)

liz said:


> Polled status on any goat can appear a number of ways, giraffe polled, meaning that there are rounded high bumps on the head, smooth polled meaning that there is only low bumps over the brow and scurred polled, being more common in bucks due to the testosterone, I have 2 polled bucks, one is 2 1/2 years old, bumps but no scurs, the second is 3 months old, again just bumps.
> The senior polled doe I have is listed as polled with 3 registries, her dam Brush Creek Journey is polled, her sire is disbudded/horned. My doe has bumps across her brow and a break behind them, the first polled buck she was bred with was marked as horned/disbudded but was found to be polled simply because of the horned does he was bred with that resulted in polled kids.
> 
> Polled kids are easily recognized at birth... especially if you have had horned kids born, polled babies have a tennis ball head with hair that looks like fuzz, no parts or swirls and though you may feel bumps, they are rounded at the top and the skin slides over them... horned kids have pointy bumps and the skin will not slide over them.


That helps a lot thanks.

This is one of the bucklings I think might have been polled. He had bumps and one other just had what felt more rounded.


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## HerdQueen (Oct 15, 2012)

Could the AGS papers be refering to the white poll marking on her head?


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

that is one cute blue-eyed buck!!


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## Daisy (Sep 24, 2012)

HerdQueen said:


> Could the AGS papers be refering to the white poll marking on her head?


I don't think so because it's not where her color is described it's the portion on her registration for horns and says polled.

Does anyone know if there is a way for me to look up the horn info of her sire and dam?


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

If you go on adga, since she is registered there, look up her pedigree through ADGA Genetics. If her dam or sire, or any other goat in her pedigree was polled, their name will be in a green box.


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## Daisy (Sep 24, 2012)

I got a better picture of the bumps on her head. I have three other goats that are all disbudded and they are not like this, they just have a flat spot where they were disbudded. Does this look like a polled goat?


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## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

I had 3 polled does and they all looked like that so I would say, yes. My disbudded does' heads are flat.


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## goatylisa (Dec 29, 2012)

I vote yes too


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## Riverside Fainters (Feb 6, 2013)

I sitting here looking at those pics... She almost looks disbudded/dehorned. My doe.. granted is a fainter.. But is polled and she has nothing like that at all.. I will get pics of her head later


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

I'm voting for polled too. I have a 2.5 month polled doe and she looks exactly like that


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

I'm looking more at the hair pattern than the bald spots and it looks just like the hair pattern on my polled goats. None of my disbudded goats have that kind of hair pattern, nor do their disbudding scars look even remotely like that. In fact, within a few weeks to months of disbudding them there IS no visible disbudding scar on any of mine!! So i am also going to vote for polled.


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

OK, these aren't very good pictures but... there are two pictures of my young mini Nubian doeling, one of her with my Nubian, and one of her sticking her head through the fence to her mom. She is the brown one with light ears and moonspots. There is one picture of my buck, who looks just like the doeling only with dark ears. in Abi's pictures if you look close you can see the hair pattern and how it kind of dips down over her forehead, if that makes sense. In the picture of the buck, Stoli, (and chickens, lol) you can kind of see the bumps on his head, though his have hair they are located in the same places as your doe's bald bumped up spots.


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## Riverside Fainters (Feb 6, 2013)

This is my does head.. This is Isabel a 3 yr old registered myotonic.









Never mind my feet.. Lol


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Ah that new pic is perfect and i would put money down that she is 100% for sure polled.


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## Riverside Fainters (Feb 6, 2013)

Isabell is polled yes. That's why I am thinking this doe was dehorned/disbudded..


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

How adorable is that face?  Nice doe!


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