Polled animals are animals born naturally without horns. Some breeds of cattle are entirely polled. There are not any goat breeds entirely polled.

In goats, the polled gene is dominant. This means that a kid can only be polled if one, or both, parents are polled.

Every goat receives two genes of each characteristic (in this case being polled), one from mom and one from dad. Although, only one of the genes will be expressed. If mom or dad have the dominant trait, that will be the one expressed. If neither mom or dad have the dominant trait, neither will their kids.

Since disbudding is not enjoyable for the kid or the person doing the disbudding, being polled is a desirable characteristic for some breeders.

Others believe being polled is a genetic flaw and therefore choose not to breed the trait.

Either way, polled goats are not the norm. Research done long ago showed breeding a polled doe to a polled buck resulted in a higher frequency of the kid being intersex. The research is debatable, but most breeders today still choose not to breed polled to polled.

POLLED PROBABILITY

To help visualize the probability of polled vs. horns in a breeding pair, examine the Punnet squares below.

• The dam has two genes for the polled/horned characteristic – one from each of her parents. The two genes are known and represented in the rectangles.
• The sire has two genes for the polled/horned characteristic – one from each of his parents. The two genes are known and represented in the rectangles.
• The kid will also have two genes for the polled/horned characteristic – one from each of his parents. The possible options are displayed in the squares.

P = polled
p = horned

Since being polled is a dominant trait, if a P is shown in a square the goat will be polled. If a P is not present, the goat will have horns.

The sire and dam each have two polled/not polled genes, but each pass only one to the kid.  The two letters represent the one gene from the dam and the one gene from the sire that were passed to the kid.

The possible results are:
PP = HOMOZYGOUS POLLED. This would result in a polled goat that does not carry the horn gene. This is rare in goat herds.
Pp = HETEROZYGOUS POLLED. This would result in a polled goat that carries the recessive horn gene. Most polled goats are heterozygous.
pp = HOMOZYGOUS HORNED. This would result in a horned goat, with no possibility of being polled. Even though horns are recessive, this is the most common outcome in goats.

PUNNET SQUARE 1

Here we have a heterozygous polled goat (Pp) bred to a homozygous horned goat(pp).

The probability of a kid being polled is 50/50.

PUNNET SQUARE 2

This Punnet square shows a homozygous horned goat(pp) bred to another homozygous horned goat(pp).

The probability of a kid being polled is 0.

PUNNET SQUARES 3-6

These four options are possible, but not likely since most goats are not homozygous polled or bred to another polled goat.

HOW TO KNOW IF A NEWBORN KID IS POLLED

It can be tricky to tell if a newborn kid is polled. It is important to know for sure, though, because you wouldn’t want to disbud an animal that doesn’t need it.

As newborns, most horned kids will have hair swirls where their horns will be.

Polled kids will generally have bumps where horns would be. But, the bumps feel more round and less pointy than horns poking through. Also, if the skin moves a bit at the bump, the goat is probably polled. Skin around incoming horns does not move.

This is our goat, Wingman. He is polled. It is a bit deceiving because the hair where horns would be is noticeably different. However, the hair is more like a cow lick than a swirl.

OUR POLLED GOATS

Willow
She actually had the disbudding process done to her, but is polled. She has produced many polled babies with horned sires.

Willow’s buck from 2017, Wingman

Willow’s buck from 2018

SCURS

Scurs, in goats, are the result of the animal not being disbudded properly. Disbudding needs to kill all the horn tissue. When not all the tissue has been killed, scurs can occur. Scurs generally show up as wonky bits of a horn.

Science is Fun & Genetics are Fascinating!

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Even with our small herd it’s difficult to remember all the identification and medical records for each goat. To keep track and stay organized I created a few worksheets to help me manage our goat family.

I am offering these sheets as free downloads that you print at home. You will need the latest version of Adobe Reader to view the PDF’s. It can be downloaded for free from Adobe.

identification & medical records

This 3 Page PDF is ideal for identification and medical records. There is also room to add other information such as where you purchased the goat and any awards she may have earned.

breeding record

1 page for recording breeding and kidding information.

milk production record

2 pages to record milk production for the entire year.

Please enjoy these printables! However, do not sell or share the file as your own. Also, do not post the PDF on your social media page, please link back to this original post. For more about the Terms of Use, click here.

The sheets are letter size and would work in a 3 ring binder.

However, I prefer Staples Arc system for my planners and record keeping. It is not the cheapest option, but I like the versatility of the system. I actually have 3 planners/record books. I use one for my everyday planning, one is for my Ridgetop Digital Shop business, and one is for all our farm and garden records.

Enjoy!
And, have fun staying organized!

Looking for more organizational printables? Check out my other site, Ridgetop Digital Shop.

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This spring I brought home a new animal species to our little farm, 2 Nigerian Dwarf Goats. We didn’t have a fence for the goats, so Farmer John quickly got one built.

FENCE PLACEMENT

We had the perfect place for the goats right behind the chicken coops.

He used string as a guide line.

DIGGING POST HOLES

Farmer John dug each post hole by hand, using a post hole digger. After he was satisfied with the placement of each post, he filled the holes with cement.

CREATING STRONG CORNERS

To make sure the fence held up well and the corners would not fall in, Farmer John connected 3 posts at each corner.

He used a chainsaw to cut notches in each vertical post to hold the horizontal supports.

The horizontal posts have a few nails through them to hold them in place within the notches.

He then tied tension wire from both outer posts to the center post.

To make sure the wire bracing was good and tight he used a stick to twist the wire until it was firm.

Our fence has 4 corners, each one looks similar to this with 3 vertical posts, 2 cross supports & diagonal tension wire.

T-POSTS & FENCING

The corners have round, wooden posts. About every 8 feet between the corners are T posts. Four foot tall field fencing is secured to the outside of the posts.

THE GATE

Farmer John used a similar method as the corners to secure the posts holding the gate.

COMPLETED FENCE IN USE

The fence surrounds a field with lots of good eats for the goats…

… However, they spend a lot of time reaching for goodies outside the fence.

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