Today was decision day on multiple fronts: Let them keep their horns, or have them disbudded? Keep them intact, or have them castrated? Grow them out for our freezer, or train them as pack goats to be sold?
The horns/disbud question was most important, as it was the most time sensitive question. Disbudding should ideally be done between 10-14 days old, so I had to decide what their purpose in life would be, as that would determine whether they kept their horns or not.
As a grow out meat goat, they would be castrated and disbudded, and grown out here on our farm until they were big enough to process for meat for our family's freezer. In the face of their undeniable cuteness, this was not an idea I was fond of, but it is a simple fact on our farm, that most of our livestock are raised to be eaten. That being said, they could be more valuable as a working livestock animal rather than just food in our freezer, so I needed experienced advice before making any permanent decisions on them. It turns out that Oberhaslis generally make very good pack goats; the recommendations were to let them keep their horns, castrate at 5 1/2 months, and train them up as pack goats.
Training pack goats is something new to me, so I'll be doing a lot of learning as I go. Mr Cutiepie and Deadpool are still very young, however, I can start with the basic ground manners right away; wearing a collar, learning to be led on leash, crossing water, etc. I also built them their own tiny mountain to play on while they practice strengthening, balance and climbing skills they'll need on the trail.