Anyone with experience with bully goats. I started my herd with 2 young bucks (one wethered, one not). I have since added 2 does. The girls are older so a bit bigger, the boys are barely 6 months). The boys get along great (they are brothers), and get along well with one doe. The other doe is quite aggressive. She is rough with both but particularly picks on the wethered male. She backs up to gain distance then charges full speed into him. And often when he least expects it into his side. During the daylight hours they are in a 2.5 acre pasture so there isn't usually a problem. But when I pen them for the night he is reduced to cowering in the corner. I isolated her from the herd for about one hour tonight which seemed to tone her down a bit but short of me standing near the pen all night to play mama bear, I don't know what else to do.
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Hi Julia. Yes, my intent was to keep them all together. I think you are right, they are best separated unless out to pasture. That is unfortunate. I was hoping to commit a smaller area of barn to the goats so that I could have additional room for future livestock, but whatever makes them happy :)
Am I understanding that you are keeping the boys (buck and wether) with the does? I know if I put any boys in with my girls they get very unhappy and are mean to him unless they're in standing heat. I think it's better to keep your does and bucks separated until you need to breed them. They'll probably all be a lot happier.
put her and the other doe in another pen next to the boys till the boys get bigger....that way they can all see each other but she wont be able to smack him.
Hi Rachel. Thank you for your ideas. I have only had the girl goats for about a week now. I do know that the goats have to re-establish a new pecking order, but the girls were just getting more aggressive. Yesterday they were in the barn most of the day due to poor weather and both of them were ganging up on the poor little guy and side-rammed him so hard he was pinned up against the barn wall. :(
I have since put the meanest gal in her own pen for the night. She is only separated by a wire fence, so can still see the other goats and none of them seem distressed by this separation. The little guy is able to move about the communal pen freely at night with just minor altercations with the other lady goat. This seems to be working for now. In a weeks or so, I will try to re-introduce her at night and see how she does.
You might try putting her in a smaller pen or kennel during the night if it bothers you. This kind of behavior is pretty normal, but I have culled a doe that was overly aggressive and antagonistic. How long have you had all the goats? In my experience, the more recent the addition, the more often pecking order needs to be established, so if the addition of the does is fairly new, I wouldn't worry too much. Also, once they boys get a little bigger, your bully won't be able to pick on them so much.
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Oops! I missed the part where one of the boys was still intact. I agree with Julia. Your girls will be happier if they don't live with the buck.
Hi Julia. Yes, my intent was to keep them all together. I think you are right, they are best separated unless out to pasture. That is unfortunate. I was hoping to commit a smaller area of barn to the goats so that I could have additional room for future livestock, but whatever makes them happy :)
Am I understanding that you are keeping the boys (buck and wether) with the does? I know if I put any boys in with my girls they get very unhappy and are mean to him unless they're in standing heat. I think it's better to keep your does and bucks separated until you need to breed them. They'll probably all be a lot happier.
put her and the other doe in another pen next to the boys till the boys get bigger....that way they can all see each other but she wont be able to smack him.
Hi Rachel. Thank you for your ideas. I have only had the girl goats for about a week now. I do know that the goats have to re-establish a new pecking order, but the girls were just getting more aggressive. Yesterday they were in the barn most of the day due to poor weather and both of them were ganging up on the poor little guy and side-rammed him so hard he was pinned up against the barn wall. :(
I have since put the meanest gal in her own pen for the night. She is only separated by a wire fence, so can still see the other goats and none of them seem distressed by this separation. The little guy is able to move about the communal pen freely at night with just minor altercations with the other lady goat. This seems to be working for now. In a weeks or so, I will try to re-introduce her at night and see how she does.
You might try putting her in a smaller pen or kennel during the night if it bothers you. This kind of behavior is pretty normal, but I have culled a doe that was overly aggressive and antagonistic. How long have you had all the goats? In my experience, the more recent the addition, the more often pecking order needs to be established, so if the addition of the does is fairly new, I wouldn't worry too much. Also, once they boys get a little bigger, your bully won't be able to pick on them so much.