[feederseaters]

I agree, that goat looks like it has some Kiko to him.
You could always do the genetics test if you have good purpose to.

Kiko's were bred originally from Saanens so if he is a Kiko X saanen, he would look very much like your goat there.

 

[feederseaters]

Definately some sort of meat breed in there. I can also tell you he was castrated late by looking at the mass of the horns.

Hmmm, good observation Rex. I do think that there are exceptions to that logic though. I have an alpine wether that I castrated (in my opinion too young) at 3 days old. His horn base and mass is at least 2x the size of my other goats. Deffinately an exception to the rule. You are right that most times the horn size is a good indication of how old the goat was when castrated, but my boy would deceive even the text books.

 

[feederseaters]

[quote="ashley

How does horn growth and castration time correlate?[/quote]

Ashley,
Testosterone is a major factor in horn growth, thus the longer the goat is intact the longer he has to grow his horns bigger and faster. Once you castrate him, you reduce the amount of testosterone he is producing and you slow down his horn growth.

If you look at a year old buck to a year old wether, you will get a better idea of what Rex was suggesting. Most wethers have thin or skinny horn bases in the first few years. A buck will have 2x the base width at the same age. Hope my answer was helpful.

 

[feederseaters]

[quote="Rex We have done several side by side comparisons on different kids and even twin brothers to see the effects of horn size relating to the castration date but I have never seen heavy horn mass on an early castrated goat. I'd love to see a picture![/quote]

Ok, Ask and Ye shall recieve. I didn't go take pictures but I found some existing ones that should give the right angles to give you a good idea. Just to recap; Oats my goat has bigger horn mass than my other goats who were ALL castrated by me at just a few days old. Oats is actually YOUNGER by about a month then the other two goats I am posting pictures of. But all of them were castrated at three day's old (yes, I know....too early).
Tell me what you think. All of these pics were taken within the past two months.

First is a pic of Oats.
[attachment=3:2h3bo9s1]Oats on kearsarge.jpg[/attachment:2h3bo9s1]

Next a profile of Oats
[attachment=2:2h3bo9s1]Oats Profile.jpg[/attachment:2h3bo9s1]

Now a picture of Acorn who is OLDER than Oats and castrated young.
[attachment=1:2h3bo9s1]Protesting Goats 10-15-11 018.jpg[/attachment:2h3bo9s1]

And Birch who is Also Older than Oats and castrated young.
[attachment=0:2h3bo9s1]Protesting Goats 10-15-11 094.jpg[/attachment:2h3bo9s1]