I have a doe in my herd who I thought was the queen. She decided when they went in or out, moved the others for her take of "the best" food, decided where they'd fold up and rest and so on. She was very subtle, mild mannered and diplomatic about her reigning duties. Then suddenly, as they kidded, another doe seems to have stepped up and taken charge. It's funny, because it's the more sensitive, standoffish, always easily giving- in doe who has taken this turn around, and the doe who I thought was the queen, just stands back now and allows the other one to do all the bossing! I even had to build another hayrack, to assure she eats! I might add that the previous queen had 1 kid, and the new, seems to be queen, had 2. Is it possible that a herd queen can be overthrown? Also, it it possible that eventually, someday the other queen can regain her reigning power? I sure hope so, because she went about it in a more peaceful manner. The new queen seems to be more pushy about it and almost a bit grumpy at times. Too bad we couldn't just vote the overthrown little queen back in, but is there a chance she could someday reign again?
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Oh my goodness, what a funny story! Not funny what the poor goat had to go through, but funny to hear the way you put it about power in her hair- hilarious!! Glad to know, however, that the dynamics can and do often change and that our previous queen was not behaving this way now due to not feeling well or depression, or something like that! Hoping someday the first queen will once again take the throne!! Thanks, Deborah!
Yes, herd dynamics can change at any time, especially after kidding or when goats come back into the herd after being away for as little as a day or two. Who needs soap operas? Back when we used to show, the herd queen would always get challenged by multiple goats whenever we'd clip her for a show. Apparently the rest of the herd thought she had some kind of power in her hair because as soon as we clipped her and cut off her beard, they'd all be fighting with her!