# Beards



## TexasRanger (Feb 2, 2010)

I knew this is a stupid question, why do goats have beards? I know it's not a secondary sex characteristic, since both does and bucks can have them. Just a random thing I've been thinking about.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Not a stupid question at all.... It is genetics.....Bucks that begin to get them... indicates they are maturing...and becoming a man...when they are young they do not have them yet.... Does in certain species ....have them.... In boers for example ...the does are less likely to have them... then other breeds...but you can see it sometimes..... It is kinda like ...some people have freckles... while others don't..."Genetics" :thumb: :wink:


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## TexasRanger (Feb 2, 2010)

Thanks, I could never find anything about it in my goat books.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Your welcome.... glad to help.... :thumb: :wink:


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## TexasRanger (Feb 2, 2010)

Also, do they get thicker as they age? Mishka has a very thick and long beard that is just perfect to braid :leap: , yet Snickers and Rollo, have literally ten hairs.


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

haha, some beards are just better.

I have a fullblood mature doe with 6-7 long hairs there, my alpine buck has a 1 1/2' long, thick, shiny beard! 
and Rush , my FB from pam has about 1" going there.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

My oldest doe Bootsie has one that is long, I would imagine it would have been longer after 10 years of growing but each set of kids she's had would trim it for her! She'd have a good 6-7 inches before she kidded each time but once her babies turned 2-3 weeks old, she'd end up with a 2 inch bristle brush on her chin!

With does, they don't tend to get thicker...my little pygmy Heidi has like 6 long hairs, 3 on each side of her chin, they just sprouted a year ago and it hasn't filled in at all, her dam had a nice long beard and so did her grammy Boots so I guess it depends on the goat as to wether they'll get a beard or not.


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## CrossCreekTX (Aug 10, 2009)

My does that tend to have short hair shed theirs in summer while the does who tend to have longer hair keep theirs.


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## elchivito (Apr 18, 2010)

I would in fact call it a secondary sex trait. Doe beards and buck beards don't look the same, and in my experience, wethers develop DOE beards and not the full faced buck beards. Maybe it's just my Toggs, but I think I've noticed it on other breeds as well.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Yep, wethers tend to have very "feminine" beards, my buck that was wethered at 2 years old has lost his "bucky" beard and now has just a short lil' thing on his chin.


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## MissMM (Oct 22, 2007)

All of my goaties have beards - except the whethers. The does' beards are much thinner while the bucks have a very pronounced beard. I leave them when shearing cause I think they're so cute and for some reason, city folk seem to know when they visit that if the critter has a beard, it's a goat not a sheep. :shrug:


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## SterlingAcres (Oct 19, 2009)

MissMM said:


> All of my goaties have beards - except the whethers. The does' beards are much thinner while the bucks have a very pronounced beard. I leave them when shearing cause I think they're so cute and for some reason, city folk seem to know when they visit that if the critter has a beard, it's a goat not a sheep. :shrug:


When I have visitors here, they always ask me if the goats are all "billies" because they have beards. lol


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

> When I have visitors here, they always ask me if the goats are all "billies" because they have beards. lol


I get the same thing Shell..... people seem to think that I have a bunch of "billy goats" not only because of beards, but horns! I even had one lady argue with me over my Tilly...she kept insisting she was a billy goat until she saw her kids nursing! That was one lady that really ticked me off :veryangry:


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## Nubiansrus1 (Sep 2, 2009)

liz said:


> > When I have visitors here, they always ask me if the goats are all "billies" because they have beards. lol
> 
> 
> I get the same thing Shell..... people seem to think that I have a bunch of "billy goats" not only because of beards, but horns! I even had one lady argue with me over my Tilly...she kept insisting she was a billy goat until she saw her kids nursing! That was one lady that really ticked me off :veryangry:


I get that too. With the beards on a few, and the horns, which most of my herd have. So funny.

Almost as funny as the guy that called wanting to buy a wether to milk LOL


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

Its almost as bad as people calling wethers "a fixed buck". I saw an ad for a "Pygmy Billy" and it said it was fixed...Argh.


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## jjj536 (Sep 16, 2016)

I have an approximately 3 year old Nubian cross (castrated). I have had him for a year now and notice that he has lost his beard. I am inquiring into if this is a hormone related issue, being castrated, or dietary reasons.


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