Can I mix a horned goat with dehorned goats?

[Freedom Acres]

We have a 1 year old doeling that is a little lonely right now because she just lost her mama due to Goat Polio and I think Liver Fluke worms. She is a horned mini-Nubian (from what I can tell) and is an energetic little thing. My big question is: how big of a problem could it be to put her with a dehorned goat? She and her mama use to "fight", but never hurt one another. We are searching for a good milk goat because our family would really like to get into all of that, but we don't want to put any dehorned goat in the fence if our doeling is going to beat her up. It's not like she comes up to us and starts head butting, but she can get a little carried away when she is playing around and we are sitting right next to her. A lot of times we try to correct her and she "asks for forgiveness" in her own special way, but those horns are intimidating! I'm not sure if she might still be in a playful mood because she is just 1 year, or if it could get out of hand in the future. Are there any tips on how to nip it once and for all? We are fairly new to owning goats, just under a year, and are lacking in knowledge and experience.

She is really a smart, fun goat that basically grew up on our property...I wonder if she could be a little jealous if we brought in just "any ol' goat" and stuck them on HER land. Is that a possibility? Any advice is much appreciated!

God Bless

 

[chooks4life]

Greetings and

Since she's quite young still, if you get her an adult companion, hornless or not it should put her into a respectful space. She may be bullied despite her horns. But two lonely goats should bond to one another fairly well.

If she becomes the bully you can stick some polypipe from one horn to the other and duct-tape it on to stop her using the points to harm the other, but don't pull her horns together or it can give her a headache.

If she's a year old and still uses her horns on you (can't quite tell what you mean by your description of the interactions there) then that's bad manners and can be hard to nip in the bud since it's been left so long.

(I know how it is, lol, I have somebody's abandoned ex-pet doe here, she too gets carried away and gives me glancing blows that leave welts on my legs, has to be kept away from my chooks and sheep because she abuses them as she is quite the vicious bully... Unfortunately her bad manners probably contributed to her being abandoned as that's often how it goes. Cute when they're babies, not so cute when they're fully grown).

As for nipping that in the bud, a firm 'NO' and withdrawing contact from the animal works for some, putting the goat on a temporary tether works for others --- sort of a 'naughty corner/time out' thing, some grab a leg or two, lay the animal down, and hold it down till it submits, some hit them on the nose or leg with a finger or whatever while telling them 'NO', some beat the crap out of them with polypipe (which I am by no means advocating). A water bottle to squirt them when they're naughty can work wonders since most goats seem to actively hate being wet.

All of these methods work with some and not with others. Personally I think absence of violence is always the best way but some animals won't respect anything else so all you can do is manage their aggressive tendencies, by restraint, distance, barriers, training, whatever you find works. Sometimes a fence between you is all that will work unfortunately.

Many goats hate anything applied to their heads, so that polypipe on her horns, or some sort of face mask you put on her if she's naughty, can punish her sufficiently to deter her from getting carried away on you in future. Of course you'd need it on hand, maybe let it live on the fence of the paddock in case of future incidents so she can connect cause and effect quickly enough. In the case of a face plate, it's just something that stops her looking directly at her intended victim (lol), with two hooks or clips or elastic or string that goes over her horns and one under her chin; similar ones are used on very aggressive rams.

Best wishes.