Sweet mama goat turns aggressive after having babies

I have the most wonderful goat who has turned aggressive after kidding. She's akidding vet and has had many babies. Why the aggression toward us? She bit my son in the forehead when he leaned down to pet a baby. She went after my face twice. I'm shocked. We were not around for her previous kidding, as we just purchased these goats last fall. It's like Jeckyll and Hyde... LOL What should I do?

Ana Robin said:

I have the most wonderful goat who has turned aggressive after kidding. She's akidding vet and has had many babies. Why the aggression toward us? She bit my son in the forehead when he leaned down to pet a baby. She went after my face twice. I'm shocked. We were not around for her previous kidding, as we just purchased these goats last fall. It's like Jeckyll and Hyde... LOL What should I do?

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I raised goats for 40 years and I can honestly say I have not had that problem. I have never had any of my goats, with the exception of one stupid buckling, turn aggressive toward me and that includes mature bucks in rut. First of all, I would talk to her previous owner and see if she has done this before. Is this a milk goat? If she is, if it were me I would take the kids away from her and either bottle feed them or tie her up and allow them to nurse and then remove them right after they eat. How long ago did she kid? If she has just done so she may calm down in a day or two. At any rate, this behavior should NOT be tolerated. She needs to know that you are the alpha goat and that she isn't. Right now she views you as a member of the herd and not the dominate one. Maybe someone else on the list has some constructive suggestions. Personally, if she were my goat and this behavior persisted, I would be checking my cookbooks for recipes on how to cook tough meat.

Ana Robin said:

I have the most wonderful goat who has turned aggressive after kidding.  She's akidding vet and has had many babies.  Why the aggression toward us?  She bit my son in the forehead when he leaned down to pet a baby.  She went after my face twice.  I'm shocked.  We were not around for her previous kidding, as we just purchased these goats last fall.  It's like Jeckyll and Hyde... LOL  What should I do? 

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Some mommas are more protective than others, she's doing what instinct tells her to do. She should mellow out after a bit as the kids get older. Many species will defend their babies, in goats it seems it has mostly been bred out. I don't think I would do anything to her, just be aware of it and chalk it up to her being a good mom.

Ana Robin said:

I have the most wonderful goat who has turned aggressive after kidding.  She's akidding vet and has had many babies.  Why the aggression toward us?  She bit my son in the forehead when he leaned down to pet a baby.  She went after my face twice.  I'm shocked.  We were not around for her previous kidding, as we just purchased these goats last fall.  It's like Jeckyll and Hyde... LOL  What should I do? 

Click to expand...

I second the waiting or you could potentially pull the kids and bottle raise them if you think her behavior is too dangerous to deal with. After you pull the kids (beware if they are older as it may be more of a struggle to get them to eat off the bottle) she should calm down again. If not, you could always consider selling her. However, if she was nice before kidding, chances are she'll be nice again once the babies are gone.