Mean goat... I need help putting her in her place.

[dracoe19]

I have 3 goats at the moment all female. Two are called the "twins". They are inseperable and look identical except for their horns. One recently had a baby and I sold him the other day so she is rather upset. Her "sister" on the other hand has become, to put it bluntly, a *****! She used to be alright with being pet and would every so often rub her head as if playing but we always discouraged this. With in the past 2 weeks she has become very aggressive. She was starting to become more pushy and try to butt me but I always grabbed her told her no and shoved her away. I had a family come to pick up some chickens. I brought them into our barn pasture but didn't warn them or anything because all of our animals are friendly, we do not tolerate aggressive behavior. They had a little girl around 6 who was standing there looking at one of the other goats and Venus (the trouble goat) walked over causually and smacked her with her horns! She didn't hurt her but the little girl was shooken up and upset. After that was resolved she kept following us everywhere trying to do it again to someone else! I kept shooing her away, grabbing her and shoving her the other way but she would not leave. A few days pass and another family came to get a baby goat. This time I warned them about her and I was there to block her away from their young daughter. Same thing! She kept coming over like she was going to be friendly like the others and be pet but I could see "the look" in her eye of her wanting to hit someone. Another few days pass and another family came to get chickens. I warned them about her and told them to shoo her away. While I was chasing an escaped chicken I caught her and was bent over and she ran up behind me and rammed me! I was so surprised I dropped the chicken and had to take a minute to realize she head butted me! None of our goats have EVER done this not even the bucks we have had. She just will not stop! Today I was cleaning a stall with my brother and of course there she comes walking over with her sister to "greet" me. She hasn't hurt anyone but I for one have grown sick of her nasty behavior. The whole time I was down there she was testing me by going into the stall behind my back and going where she knows she should not be. I accepted her challenge and would put her in her place every time she got that "look" or kept testing me. I would grab her by her horns and hold her or shove her or put her head to the ground and she always came back asking for more. I am at a loss. None of our other goats have behaved this way and the few times they have they learn I do not tolerate it. I don't know why she has become such an aggressive wanna be dominent goat all of a sudden. One of my guesses is she is upset she was the only one with out a baby? We suspect she is pregnant because her milk dropped a little while ago. This would be her first baby so I know it would be a month more before she would give birth. Could the pregnancy make her overly aggressive? If you can't think what is causing it what is another way I can disapline her? Also she is not the dominant goat in our flock and our dominant one has an iron fist when it comes to bossing the other two around.

The trouble maker is on the far left.... her sister is on the right and her baby in the middle.

 

[brahmabreeder]

You don't ever grab their horns do you? This can in courage them to head butt. You could also possibly try to spray her with water when she acts bad. This gets my goats to stop everything since they hate water. Every time she head butts immediately take action. I'm definetly not an expert so this might not work.

 

[khgiant12]

I like the horns on my goats to hold them while I give shots, milk some for a stray cat, trim feet, check them for worms ,etc . Its quicker than using my head catcher and it hasnt made them be butting goats. Goats will butt other goats to show whos boss. Cant stop that. If they butt you I would think about getting rid of them before you get hurt or someone else. Goats have a personality like people and its hard to change that. But a shock stick might work if she gets too bad and you choose to keep her. I had a turkey not long ago would try to get behind me and attack. He was stolen from me one night my barn was burnt down and a week later he come home. His mate never did so dont know about her but when i seen him I swore I would never lock him up again so he run free here for over a year. Facing him always kept him from actually jumping on me but I got so sick of having to walk backwards. Made feeding a dread and now he,s gone. This is all suppose to be enjoyable and having to fight off your animals is not. She may be worse when she has a baby to watch over. I have had goats 10 years now and I always use the horns for a quick look at them or a simple quick job to do on them. Then rub and pet them after its over. Works for me..

 

[laturcotte1]

I've had two wethered nubians for 7 years with very large horns. Caboose is dominate and can be a butter. I use their horns to hold them for shots, hoove trimming etc but never never to reprimand them. If you grab their horns while playing or to avoid attack they will just come back harder, this is a challenege. I have two things I use; a spray bottle, not a mist bottle something that will spray directly hard in the face. Remember you want the action stopped immediately. If Caboose sees the bottle now he knows whats coming and changes his mind. I've also gone in without this bottle but always, always have a dog collar in my pocket and a good sting to the nose will deter. He will see the collar but knows I have to get pretty close to use it. Otherwise when he's nice he's a honey, he gives kisses loves to be brushed but I never let my guard down. I never ever challenge him if he's in a bad mood I leave BUT if I have business in his area and he gets that look you speak of he gets sprayed. His buddy Fred is a sweet heart when he was young he use to stand on his hindlegs and rest his front feet on my shoulders. My vet was appauled told me to put a stop to that habit immediately, I'm glad I did he weights a good 175 pounds now. The are very smart and know exactly what you what, they just can be very stubborn. Good luck.

 

[dracoe19]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll have to get a spray bottle. Didn't know not to shove them with their horns... figured since it worked with the others she would stop. I don't understand why she has gotten so mean though :/. I can't get rid of her or I'll have to sell her sister as well. They have a very, very strong bond and get horribly depressed if they don't see each other. We'll see if the spray bottle work I really hope it does and she goes back to "normal" soon.

 

[ChicknThief]

You ever hear of the takedown maneuver? There are several people on here that are very familiar with this. The last several posts of this thread explain it in great detail....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...or-us-and-it-is-not-for-a-positive-reason/370

Start at post 376

 

[khgiant12]

I sure understand about separating goats that are bonded. My big buck also got burnt up in the fire that night I spoke of earlier and my pigmy we call Taz never got over losing him. They had run together for 3 years and would fight together sometimes I thought way to rough but then if I took one away and put in another field they would jump fences to get together again. After Pepper died Taz would stand out in the field with other goats and stare for long periods of time or be beside the barn with his head down for hours . It was pitiful really. This was first time I realized animals will bond close with each other and this told me just how much.
Another thing my son use to play with Pepper rough (300 + pounds) with his horns and I told him this would someday get me hurt and to stop. Turns out Pepper caught him in the field one day with his back turned and nailed him to the barn. Animals are smart & he did not like to be roughed up like that. Its obvious you care a great deal for your goats and they are pretty so try the shock stick or water and you might just get her calm down and everything be just fine. I sure hope so. Let us know.

 

[WalkingWolf1]

Put about 1 teaspoonful of ammonia in a pint of water in a spray bottle. Spray her on the nose. It won't take too many of sprays and she'll back off.