Somebody brought up other goats getting aggressive with new kids in another thread and I kind of chuckled, trying to imagine our doeling Audra Belle being aggressive with anything, ever--but there it is. She came into season today and in between trying to mount me and her mother she was chasing the kids. Fortunately they are in the garage so there are lots of nooks and crannies to duck into, but their coordination is not so great. She seems to have settled down now, her discharge has dried up, and her normal sweet temperament has returned--should I be concerned at all, or just blame it on the hormones?
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Hej from Sweden,
I am experiencing the same thing. Our sweet calm albeit a bit strange doe Pumpkin who gave birth in August has now become the stable bully! First she has taken on the role of a wether , sniffing out does in heat. She starts to act "bucky" with the does. They are no problem since they are large enough to "hold their own". But when she tries to mount little Rose her 5 month old doeling, it's not funny. Not only does she try to mount this little baby, but she has become so aggressive to her when she is in heat. On a previous heat, she was so aggressive and Rose was so tiny that I made the executive decision to remove her and place her in with our new doelings, Iris, Petunia and Ivy. That felt like I took her out of the frying pan and dropped her in the fire. She was beat up by all three and she cried so pitifully for her mommy.
Well here we are again, heat time for Pumpkin. She is so mean to little Rose. I am giving serious consideration to reconfigure our boxes and make a box for the doelings. WE have Nigerians and Pygmies and we have quite large boxes. Well maybe not all the doelings. Hilda goes into heat and just stand in her box yelling. She shows no aggression toward her baby Peanut, also born in August. I may just leave them alone . The same goes with Frida. She has not come into heat since her babies were born, and looking at them, they make a beautiful family portrait. I guess I will wait to remove these babies when their mothers are ready to be bred again.
I never thought in a million years I would have to say we have an abusive parent and an abused baby at Gullringstorp. It's not a good thing to have to admit. the only conciliation is that I am not alone and it was nothing I have done to promote this unwanted behavior. I actually thought that maybe it was a result of losing a baby. Now I understand.
Love this forum!!
This is the first time she's had anybody littler to go after (unless you count the dogs) so I was completely unprepared for it from meek little Audra Belle. She's completely snapped out if now and back in mama-mimic mode, just as protective of those babies as Spot is.
Some does get really violent when in heat. My old lady Star who turns 13 years old next week is one of those. She was my first goat ever, and I thought for sure she had completely ruined my first buck because she totally beat him up when she was in heat. His head was bleeding from butting heads with her so much! I didn't think he'd die; I just thought he'd be scared of girls and not be good for breeding anymore. (Hey, I was brand new back then!) It takes more than a little head butting to discourage a testosterone-driven buck! This past summer, our intern came into the house and asked me if something was wrong with Star. I looked out the window and there she was butting heads with four other does! I told him she was just in heat, but considering the fact that she was 12 years old, we should lock her up by herself for the day before she got herself hurt.