OUCH...darn pygmy goat...and do you have pictures of your goat pens?

[Jolyn]

Sooooo i'm adding to my little ranch here and we got three new little pygmy goats. They are very sweet and friendly and are warming up to us. However one the oldest is butting the younger ones alot and last night she butted me in the leg...her horn actually got me.

Is there anything i can do to break her of this or is it just what they do. If she is eating and the others try to walk past her she goes after them......if they aren't even bothering her she does it.

Also i do not want to remove the horns but is there anything else that can be done....trimmed or i even thought of putting little rubber balls on the ends....

Also we are going to build them a place of there own and am wondering if anyone has any pictures of their goat pens!

Anyway thanks for any info....

 

[thebritt]

We have 3 pygmies, one with horns. I used to think the tennis ball thing was a good idea, because we had the same issues. Well, the balls never stick - even with glue, and horn is living tissue, so glue probably wasn't a good idea anyway. Eventually, everyone worked out their pecking order. We always put the hay in separate piles (4 piles for 3 goats), so everyone has their own space. When the bully pushes one away from it's pile, the bullied goat moves to the other pile the bully just left. Eventually, after some head-butting (at EVERY meal), the bully decides it's the only one NOT eating!

. It eventually mellows out and eats.
As for goat pens, GOOD LUCK! Mine keep working their heads through the hog wire and going into the neighbor's yard.

. Pain in the butt! I'd like to get up an electric fence, but my dh isn't so inclined (fear of electricity?

.).
Forgot to add the "Get away from me" sound to make at the bully - put your lips together & blow out really hard, kinda like a "raspberry"(

), but louder and more abrupt. Maybe you've heard the goats make this sound? It's a warning noise understood by goats. Startles them and makes them jump. When I am annoyed by their behavior, I make that noise and everyone stops what they're doing. If you make that noise at the bully just before it tries to butt you, you may be able to deter it..Good luck!

 

[username taken]

Smack him hard across the tip of his nose if he butts you, he will learn pretty quick not to do it.

You can tape tennis balls or similar to the ends of the horns if you like, or you can use horse hoof nippers to nip off the very tip of the horns, they will grow blunt not sharp and pointy

 

[katrinag]

A good smack on the snout, and a firm NO should do the trick. You might have to do it a couple times. But they will soon learn that butting is a no no. You want to nip it in the bud before someone gets hurt bad.

You can nip or file the ends of the horns so they are not so sharp. If you have a milking stand you can place the goat in there and give a bit of grain to keep them busy while you do the horns.

As far as a pen I do not have one. The get 1/4 of our hay barn to share with the horses.

 

[Jolyn]

Thanks for the info!!!!

 

[Thomas423]

Here is a pic of our goat house. Excuse the mess, we were cleaning it out when I took the pic and the piece of plywood is not usually on the ground.

The inside is simple....food on right, straw on left for sleeping. I want DH to add a shelf on left side for storage above where they are supposed to sleep. (They usually sleep outside)

We use plastic coffee cans for their water. They like warm water and the cans make it easier to fill and carry. Plus they are disposable when they get too dirty.

We gave them a front porch and they use it often. They love to hang out on the porch and they often sleep on it.

We built the large overhang because goats don't like rain or snow. It took them a year to realize that they could step outside the house and not get wet. They used to stand inside the doorway and look out. LOL Goats are so funny.

The run is our backyard which is a picket fence with wire fencing stapled to make a total height of 6'. We have the yard divided with just a wire fence and gate to keep them in their area. They have never gotten out of the yard but they have gotten out of their area and came a knocking at the back door.

As far as forns go.....you cannot remove them. They have to be stubbed at birth. My bottle fed goat has horns and she sometimes tries to rub them against me lovingly. I discourage it and now at 2 years old it's not too much of an issue. They do make great handles though. LOL.

 

[Dorothy1324]

when our's but us we do the quick twist of the ear and a firm no. it does seem to work.

 

[Jolyn]

Thomas~ thanks for the picture. I had heard that they like to have an overhang so they don't get wet......I will tell dh so he can build one!! We get alot of rain here in the winter so it's very important. I will show him yours.

One thing i read was that if you do a loud forceful kind of raspberry it will frighten them....and keep them from doing bad behavior....so last night every time i saw her starting to get ready to butt the babies i did that noise and sure enough it stopped her.