They make little boxes and only the head sticks out and then you burn it. It’s like branding it on top of the head, which I won’t do. You know mine are all under anesthesia. But fi you do that within their first couple of weeks of life then that’s a lot less set back than cutting the horns off. A lot of people talk about defense with the horns and I can’t tell you how many herds of goats of horns that I have seen that were wiped out by dogs. I don’t really see a difference in it. The horns tend to get caught places and that can cause breaking necks and other kinds of deaths and maimings and rapes and everything else, not to mention injuries to people.
Tammy: This is Dr. Gregory Noll and he is with the Noll Veterinary Clinic in Springfield, Ohio. Well tell me a little bit about your background.

Dr. Noll: All right. I graduated from the Ohio State University in 1980 with my degree in veterinary medicine. I have been in private practice for the last 24 years and the last 22 years have been at my practice in Springfield, Ohio. I have a mixed animal practice and we do, do a fair amount of goats.

Tammy: Okay. And how much of your practice would you say is goat related?

Dr. Noll: Oh I would say 10%.

Tammy: Okay. All right. And let’s talk a little bit about pygmies. Do you see pygmies on a regular basis?

Dr. Noll: Yes we do.

Tammy: Okay. Tell me what got you interested in seeing goats, especially pygmies?

Dr. Noll: I have had…I had a lot of experience when I was younger as a kid with sheep and when I had my first job, the gentleman I worked for happened to do a lot of goats. Well I found with my background in sheep that they are really quite similar in many of the diseases that we deal with on them and on the dairy prospects, I had some experience with dairy practice also and so that…it was kind of an easy mix to work on goats from that point.
Previous Page (108)