# Polled or disbudded?



## farmchick897 (Jul 2, 2013)

Can you tell if an adult goat is polled or has been disbudded? The Saanen I just bought I'm guessing is polled and they did mention one of her past kids was polled. But they didn't know about her since they didn't get her as a kid. Is there a way to tell? I was feeling the heads of my other two which one is polled and the other was disbudded. Can't tell a difference.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

All of mine are disbudded, but when their heads are shaved they have a bald patch where the horns would be. Their heads all feel flat and are pretty smooth in the spot where the horns would be.

Not sure if there is a DNA test to check for the polled gene or not, would be cool if there was. A lot of goats get accidentally disbudded that are actually polled.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

My polled nubian has smooth bumps on her head....and the hair is not disturbed...hard to explain. Hope the pic helps...


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## farmchick897 (Jul 2, 2013)

So maybe polled is a smooth bump and disbudded is more flush with head?
The Saanen I'm wondering about has thin or missing hair in that region and it's just pink skin and round. Would a picture help anyone determine?
I agree about not wanting to disbud a polled animal. :/


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

A polled doe will have rounded bumps with hair covering them... a buck will too but because a buck tends to use his head to beat things, going by hair growth can be difficult. A disbudded head will not have hair covering the horn area, the skin will be smooth and visible. Some polled goats have no bumps, just a flat area... I have a dam and daughter here who are both polled but their heads are different, mom is flat and daughter is bumped


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

A clear, close up pic might help


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## cheyenne (Aug 21, 2011)

Violet (Saanan with horns) had twin does in May and neither of the kids have horns, only hair covered bumps. I also had another doe bred to the same buck that had twin bucklings and one had horns and the other just bumps. 

The buck that they were bred to was disbudded I was told, so I am wondering if he was actually polled but disbudded as a baby. Unfortunately I had to sell him!


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## farmchick897 (Jul 2, 2013)

My understanding of the polled gene is that one parent must be polled in order for a kid to be polled. I was told the buck they had was not polled, so if she had 1 kid out of triplets that was polled either she is polled or the buck was. Right? Here is a picture.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Hmmm...I can't tell from the pic....maybe someone with more experience can though...it's a bit blurry. So she has no hair there and no bumps?


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

farmchick897 said:


> My understanding of the polled gene is that one parent must be polled in order for a kid to be polled. I was told the buck they had was not polled, so if she had 1 kid out of triplets that was polled either she is polled or the buck was. Right? Here is a picture.


Well, either polled or carrying only one gene for horns. I had a doe that did this. She always had triplets, but the number of kids with horns varied from kidding to kidding. Sometimes one would be polled and sometimes two would be polled. There is a 1 in 4 chance of the kid getting both horned genes. If she had been disbudded, she would have both genes for horns and her kids would always have horns.


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## farmchick897 (Jul 2, 2013)

Here is better pic of head. Hair is rubbed off but it's pink skin and wouldn't a disbudded goat have a hard horn surface instead of skin??


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## farmchick897 (Jul 2, 2013)

Here is a picture of my Lamancha that was disbudded, you can see area of horn.







And my other Saanen that I know is polled.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

I think she kind of looks polled. I've never had a polled goat before so haven't ever seen one in person but her head doesn't have the normal disbudded shape to it. I would say if you breed her again to a horned buck and get a polled kid she must be polled.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

She kinda looks polled to me too...


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