# Wattles?



## emeraldcowgirl (May 19, 2011)

Both of my female kids have wattles. I googled what it means when a goat has wattles and all I got was that they serve no purpose. :??? So should I have them removed or leave them? Their mother doesn't have wattles so do you think it's genetic?


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Don't remove them, they are in nobody's way! I think it may be hereditary, as it runs in certain lines, but I have goats with and without wattles pretty randomly. For some reason I very often have twins where one has wattles and the other doesn't. Wattled does don't always get wattled kids, either. The only time they are a bit tricky is when I'm trying to clip a doe for show and those wattles are always a bit scary and tricky to clip!


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

I like them so I leave them on but some folks cut them off so they don't get chewed on or pulled or whatever. It is genetic but not a deformity or anything. Half my kids have them since my buck has them.


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## emeraldcowgirl (May 19, 2011)

I just read on another website that wattles are considered goat jewelry. LOL Well, if they're not dangerous to the goats then I'll just leave them alone. I learn something everyday about my goats!


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## adillenal (Feb 6, 2009)

I am too chicken to cut them off at birth and they don't bother me. Kind of a bother when clipping though.


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

I had a goat born years ago that had wattles. I snipped them off right after birth. It was no biggie.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

I just bought a FF that has wattles. We were wondering what their original purpose may have been.


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## supermom (Feb 24, 2009)

Decorations....I like them  .


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## JamieH (Nov 29, 2010)

I love them! I've never had to clip them though.


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## Rose (Oct 26, 2007)

They :biggrin are CUTE!


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I love wattles, even when I had to clip around them! I wish my goats had them.


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## nightskyfarm (Sep 7, 2009)

I love wattles and only some of my does have them. I did once get a doe kid born with a wattle on her ear like a earring. True goat jewelry. She was a Saanen and only one was on an ear, the other was on the neck. Her name was Oulette.


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## LamanchaLover (Jan 11, 2010)

I love wattles!!! Don`t cut them off!!


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## Horsehair Braider (Mar 11, 2011)

MF-Alpines said:


> I just bought a FF that has wattles. We were wondering what their original purpose may have been.


OK, I know this was evil of me and I assure you I don't do it anymore... usually... 

When people used to ask me what the wattles were for I would tell them that in prehistoric times goats were poisonous, and those were the vestigial poison glands! The worst part was when someone would believe me and I'd have to tell them it was a joke...


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I think they are ugly, right up there with women who don't pluck hair from their face, big giant ugly moles and skin tags  We also cut them off at birth. Thankfully Nubians don't have them. Vicki


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Nooooooo, that's an insult to our beautiful 'herd-mama', our very first Saanen doe 'Love' who proudly wears her wattles and gives them to at least half of her offspring.If they all keep milking like they do, they can grow ten pairs of wattles for all I care!


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

It is so funny how everyone has a different opinion of them. 
I like the poison gland story. LOL


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

That is funny. A friend of mine tells people who ask why she cut her LaMancha's ears off, that she has a big ear-fest every October and that fried goat ears are a delicious treat. Yuck!


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Vicki McGaugh Tx Nubians said:


> I think they are ugly, right up there with women who don't pluck hair from their face, big giant ugly moles and skin tags  We also cut them off at birth. Thankfully Nubians don't have them. Vicki


Hey! Now them are fightin' words!!! LOL!

I have skin tags. Got them when I was pregnant with my first child. They went away. Got them again with my second. This time, they didn't go away. Usually I don't mind them, but just today, I had one that hurts when you touch it. So of course, kind of like a pimple on your tongue, you've gottta touch it. My doctor told me a story about skin tags. He had a patient who got them, didn't know what they were, and sliced them off with a razor blade. He said, "DON'T DO THAT!". No problem. But they can be annoying.

Ha! And speaking of plucking hair from your face, I am such a hairy person and we just finally got our antique lighting up in our bathrooms (not necessarily a good functional choice). Now I can't see the "extra" hairs on my eyebrows nor my chin hairs. Was in the farmer's market bathroom which has great lighting and, OMG, look at all those chin hairs! AAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Had tweezers and, well, GOT'M.

Ok, I shared too much. So where do wattles come from?


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Trysta said:


> That is funny. A friend of mine tells people who ask why she cut her LaMancha's ears off, that she has a big ear-fest every October and that fried goat ears are a delicious treat. Yuck!


 :rofl


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## Tracy in Idaho (Oct 26, 2007)

I crimp them at birth with the emasculators! HATE them! Personally I think they ruin the look of a long, lean dairy neck.....but other people love them! To each their own 

I have only had them out of a French AI breeding, but now I have a buck with them -- our of 3 doelings, only one had them, thank goodness.


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## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

My kids love them. My youngest tells the city kids who visit that that's how you milk 'em. I am personally neutral, and not looking forward to clipping this year, we have a fair goat with wattles.


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## Red Mare (Apr 23, 2011)

I love the wattles! They aren't very common in the nigerians, and I think they are really adorable. 
I do hate clipping around them though. Who ever is helping me clipped is designated "wattle" holder ever since I clipped the girls last week!


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