Two of my ram lambs have developed scurs even though their sire is a non-scurred ram. Is a ram with scurs less valuable or desirable than a ram with no scurs?
(from Linda Sakiewicz) Scurs occur! Many adult polled rams had scurs as lambs that were broken off during a fight with other rams. Some people knock the scurs off so that they won’t get caught on fencing. These rams, then, appear to have been polled all along. There is nothing wrong with scurs. Rams and ewes on the island of Barbados are polled or have short scurs. Even though your ram and ewe do not have scurs or horns they may still carry the trait for scurs or even for larger horns. So if a ewe with the genes to produce scurs mates with a ram with genes to produce scurs then they may produce offspring with scurs. About 1 in 10 of our purebred rams from polled parents will get horns large enough that we will cull them rather than breed them.
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