144 MODERN MII.K GOATS 



breeder who would ignore this side of his business is- 

 headed for every possible kind of mischief, vexation, and 

 loss in his own herd, and the loss of his sales as well. We 

 tlien take it for grantefl tliat the only point of interest in 

 tliis matter is — liow to get rid of tliem! 



By far the best way is to breed them out. Use only 

 hornless bucks, and destroy your horned buck kids. 

 Tliere will, of course, be exceptions to this rule. Some 

 bucks will seem far too valuable in other respects to be 

 destroyed for this defect. As for does born horned, we 

 are not in a position as yet to spare them. So for some 

 years to come, however great oui- cai'c, some kids will be 

 born each year with incipient liorns. Tliese are so easily 

 destroyed in the young kid, howevei-. that there is no 

 excuse for a pair of liorns appearing in any M'ell 

 managed herd. 



Dehorning. — No one wants to run the risk of muti- 

 lating the head of a natin-ally hornless kid. Yet the de- 

 horning must be done almost at birth, before any gi'owth 

 of horn is evident. How, then, shall we distinguish the 

 hornless head from the hoi-ned in the new l)orn kid i 



Hoic to Detect Horns. — On a head naturally horn- 

 less, the wet hair at birth usually lies perfectly smooth. 

 If there is on eitlier side a twisted tuft of hair, the 

 chances are tlie kid is liorned. Do not be guided by this 

 test alone, however, as it occasionally hai)pens that the 



