Do you think the polled gene is linked to hermaphrodicism?


  • Total voters
    8

Southern by choice

Herd Master
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
13,336
Reaction score
14,682
Points
613
Location
North Carolina
If your goal is homozygous bucks you would not have to burn. Our polled buck has not needed to be burned and he is almost 6months old with nothing but smooth nubs covered in hair still, shall see if that changes but i dont think it will because i saw his father who is also polled and he looks the same without being burned at a year and a half old.

True, homozygous will produce only polled however most are not homozygous. The heterozygous bred to a horned goat that does produce a polled animal may produce poll scurs. We have made several inquiries in regard to this matter.
A geneticist I spoke with believes that the polls scurs may be sex linked as it seems to occur in males only.

We went on the quest because several of our bucklings that were polled did develop poll scurs. They are basically rounded raised "giraffe" nubs. We had not seen this before, they were also out of different breed lines so not linked to ONE goat. We had a client whose vet insisted she had been lied to and the breeder had botched the disbudding and told the client they were scurs.
YES, I did call the vet.

Anyway there are no real answers according to those I have spoken with but it is best guess.

We do burn to prevent the poll nubs because when they mature they won't have the raised nubs. Many polled goats do end up burned because the breeder is just going across the board doing everyone. That is why on the papers you suddenly see the green coding that they are polled. Obviously it didn't pop out from horned goats, it just was not recorded previously.

Our polled buck (sold and on his new farm) was bred to a horned doe... the horned doe's sire was polled, sister polled as well. This buck bred several does this year and the majority of his kids were polled. I find that interesting.
 

OneFineAcre

Herd Master
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
9,139
Reaction score
10,265
Points
633
Location
Zebulon, NC
I
True, homozygous will produce only polled however most are not homozygous. The heterozygous bred to a horned goat that does produce a polled animal may produce poll scurs. We have made several inquiries in regard to this matter.
A geneticist I spoke with believes that the polls scurs may be sex linked as it seems to occur in males only.

We went on the quest because several of our bucklings that were polled did develop poll scurs. They are basically rounded raised "giraffe" nubs. We had not seen this before, they were also out of different breed lines so not linked to ONE goat. We had a client whose vet insisted she had been lied to and the breeder had botched the disbudding and told the client they were scurs.
YES, I did call the vet.

Anyway there are no real answers according to those I have spoken with but it is best guess.

We do burn to prevent the poll nubs because when they mature they won't have the raised nubs. Many polled goats do end up burned because the breeder is just going across the board doing everyone. That is why on the papers you suddenly see the green coding that they are polled. Obviously it didn't pop out from horned goats, it just was not recorded previously.

Our polled buck (sold and on his new farm) was bred to a horned doe... the horned doe's sire was polled, sister polled as well. This buck bred several does this year and the majority of his kids were polled. I find that interesting.

I've seen a polled Toggenburg doe with raised nubs about 2" tall. Almost looks like a buck deer when they first start growing their antlers. Kind of odd looking on a doe.
 

misfitmorgan

Herd Master
Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Messages
3,726
Reaction score
6,998
Points
423
Location
Northern Lower Michigan
Yeah that would be odd looking on a doe...on the buck it kinda just looks more masculine least i think so.

I concur most are not homozygous because people dont want to breed to polled to polled much because of the studies. There are those doing just that but i have not seen pictures of their offspring after several generations. Just the basic....ive been breeding polled to polled for a decade and only seen one herm etc...posts and such. Testing if you have a homo or a hetro is easy enough though.
 

misfitmorgan

Herd Master
Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Messages
3,726
Reaction score
6,998
Points
423
Location
Northern Lower Michigan
Where did you get the testing done?
So far no luck in finding anyone that knows where to send it off to.

:lol: Sorry i wasnt clear. As far as i know there is no place that tests Homo/Hetro in goats such as a lab to send samples to or anything....they do for cattle though :rant

Anyhow i ment easy enough to test them by breeding to all horned does. If you bred him to say 5 does and all kids came out polled you can be about 99% sure they are homo.
 

BYJ

Just born
Joined
Apr 15, 2018
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Tennessee, southest Smokey Mountains
We have been raising dairy goats for about 13 years now and have among other traits (hardy, easy keeping, good personality, milk quality) been working towards a polled herd, in all that time we have not had an intersex kid, and we have mated several polled to polled animals.
 

Latestarter

Novice; "Practicing" Animal Husbandry
Golden Herd Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2014
Messages
11,384
Reaction score
17,481
Points
623
Location
NE Texas
Greetings and welcome to BYH! So glad you joined us. This is/was a rather dated thread. Last entry was fall of 2016. It's great that you had some pertinent input though! Please consider taking a minute to visit the new member's thread and introduce yourself so folks can welcome you properly. https://www.backyardherds.com/forums/new-member-introductions.17/ There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

PLEASE put at least your general location in your profile. It could be very important if/when you ask for or offer help or advice. You know, climate issues and such. I recommend at least your state as most folks won't be able to figure out where if you put anything more specific (county, town, street, etc) by itself. Old folks like me will never remember & look there first. To add it, mouse hover over Account top right and a drop down will appear. Click on Personal Details and scan down. You'll see the spot for Location. Then go to the bottom and save changes. Thanks! Hope you enjoy the site!
 
Top