Excessive butting

My four females are butting each other for long times at a stretch,  say half an hour,  their heads show the effect by having bald spots appearing and my eldest, 7 years old is,  i hope, due in mid June.  I just saw her being hit in the stomach by her own doe. 

Is this normal behavior? What should i do to keep her, and possible kids  safe? My barn is tiny and we still have freezing nights. 

You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!

Join Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Are they pregnant? Is the local hay alfalfa or grass?

    I'm afraid there's not much you can do about them fighting. Trying to get between fighting goats can wind up getting you injured. And you can't be with them 24/7, so that's a losing battle for you anyway. 

  • Thank you so much for your response. There seems to be no special time that they butt, although this has been a cold and snowy winter, so they are in the barn more than ever before. I do a daily cleaning after feeding and try to stop the hard hits. Yesterday on the porch, with me not around, they went at each other for so long, i put them back in the barn. I try to give them time outside each day. They have never looked so dowdy; in addition to piles and piles of downy undercoat they are now loosing guard hairs so much that i can see skin in thin spots.
    They have Sweet Licks minerals and good local hay, plus fresh water anyways available, and get 1/4 a cup of alfalfa pellets, brome pellets, and a teaspoon of grain twice a day.
    Local vets don't work with goats, the one who did has stopped her practice. Any things to try?

    Thank you so much,
    Barb Rondine
  • It can be normal behavior. I have been amazed by how resilient kids can be in utero. I've been worried a few times about pregnant does being bullied, but it only caused a problem once. I had a doe go into labor at about day 136 or 137. The kids were both way under 2# and couldn't stand for a day or two. Mama had no milk, but we were able to save both of them and bottlefeed them. Other goats have gone full term and given birth to healthy kids, so it probably depends on how persistent the butting is and exactly what happens. 

    It sounds like you may have only one stall in the barn for them, but if you can figure out who is the least aggressive of the bunch and separate out the pregnant one with her, that may be helpful. 

    If they fight at feeding time, adding hay feeders may help. 

    Is there any particular time or situation where the head butting happens? 

This reply was deleted.