I was told you CAN'T dehorn an angora goat because they release excess heat from their body through their horns. True or false. I don't really want to get into , if it hurts the goat, is it mean, etc. I just want to know if it's true. Thanks, L. Graham

-- L. Graham (ab-ka-lo@ckt.net), January 26, 2002

Answers

I imagine it's false. Think about horn - it's a fairly good insulator. If they needed to get rid of excess heat they'd grow a better method using skin - bigger wattles, or a comb like a bird, or some such radiator.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), January 26, 2002.

Horns do help regulate body heat, yes, but this is an issue with other livestock as well, not any more so with Angoras to my knowledge.

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), January 26, 2002.

I'm not sure if this is fact or fiction but I did hear the same thing when I started raising angora's. Personnally I find the horns rather handy "handles" when I need to catch one, they are very sensitive about having their hair pulled and the rest of the body follows the "handles" rather well when leading them. Unlike my Dorset sheep, they are really hard to get ahold of and to hold onto. I can say they will bleed like crazy if they break one off very close to the skull, supposedly they can lose enough blood to die.

-- Betsy K, MI (betsyk@pathwaynet.com), January 26, 2002.

They certainly can be dehorned or disbudded. The part about the horns acting as a heat radiator is true. Equally true is the fact that angora goats routinely die prolonged deaths when their horns get caught in a fence or brush and they are not found until they have starved to death or died of thirst. ( Let's not even think about dogs getting to a goat caught in a fence).

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 26, 2002.

Angora Goat Info

Altho a small percentage of these goats are naturally polled, many of the sites frown on dehorning, but not due to the myths.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), January 28, 2002.