Introducing young goat to 3 yr old doe?

[tacothechicken]

So as of a few months ago one of our two goats passed away to unkown causes although she did have health issues this left us whith our single dwarf doe Gilly who has spent the last 4 months socializing whith our dogs instead as we didnt have time to drive hrs to go get another goat, now weve found a breeder whith kids to go mid august, so How is the proper way to introduce them? Weve never introduced goats before as generally weve bought sets from a group each time so they are already aqainted and friendly. We have dogs who im not worried about in the least but Gilly likes to be proactivly dominant and excitable (wrestles and tries to mount our mastiff..) she is dehorned and about 45 pounds. We have a 60x60 ft area for them to sleep and a 1.5 of freerange whats the best way to safely aquaint them? Our current goat Gilly is in the pic attached

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I generally pen the new ones where they can be seen and interacted through a fence, than after a few days I would try putting them together to see how it goes. Expect some butting from the older goat. Keep that up each day, until you are comfortable leaving them together.

 

[Zoomie]

Not sure in your exact situation... I've always just put the new kids in the pen with the adults, although I do try and put lots of food in lots of places first to give everyone something to do. It's actually very funny as the young adults who have never seen kids before (yearlings, IOW) will stare in horror at the kids, and run away if the kids walk up to them. After a few hours every one is fine. If you have lots of room, most likely they will be fine.

In your case, I would suggest to get at least two kids. I find that they do really well that way. They have a little buddy to hang out with etc. and it makes them braver in a new place, more likely to eat well and so on. Your older goat will probably be fine with new kids. This year I am raising a new herd sire, and once he was two months old I put him in with my mature buck who was a real sweetheart to him, playing with him very gently. They were fine together right from the start, and most likely that's how it will go for you too.

 

[tacothechicken]

Good to know, ill try them separate at first and mabe let Gilly out to freerange whith the new baby in the goat area to get aquainted whith the area and see how they act, we may buy a pair of babies depending on what thier attitudes are and size wise @Zoomie the reaction you described is exactly how our other dogs reacted when our one female had puppies XD actually they react that way whenever theres a new baby in our house. chick season is HILARIOUS W/ our mastiff