Goats and horn removal, Safe vs.humane?

[theecksteins]

Ah, I have a dilemma. I'm hoping some of you animal lovers can give me a pep talk. I need a little encouragement to do the right thing, whatever that is.

First off, I'm a suburban homesteader. I'm in the process of trying to become as self-sustaining for food as possible. One of the ways we're doing this is getting a a pair of dwarf goats. Roll call

Comments

[hippydippymama]

Could you just sell the wether and find another polled goat?

[theecksteins]

As far as I know, they haven't. Do I need to take a sample of something to the vet?

[imafarmgirl]

I would never buy a goat with CAE. I had mine get infected and it's tragic. It causes painful arthritic swelling of the joints that can cause stiffness, pain and crippling. It causes hardening of the udder which can decrease production. It also can cause an off taste in milk, and swelling in the brains of young kids. It is Caprine arthritic encephilitis if you want to look it up. It is spread through all bodily fluids but especially milk.

It requires a blood test to test. I'd ask the breeder if he tests. If he does not the chances of his animals having it are somewhat high.

[hippydippymama]

I'd just like to mention that imafarmgirl is a friend of mine and she's incredibly educated about just about everything you could hope for about stuff like this. I'd definitely take her advice straight, no salt. =)

[imafarmgirl]

lol. Thanks. Maybe my expensive masters degree is good for something. As we both know I certainly don't use it at work with humans. lol.