# Cattle Prods?



## sarahr (Jun 2, 2016)

Hey guys 

I am new to the forums and relatively new to raising goats. I'm having trouble at the moment with a young buck who is getting more and more 'buckish' - peeing everywhere (including on me!), headbutting stuff (including me) and trying to mount me...

Some of it is probably my fault for being overly friendly when he was younger, letting him rub his head on me etc. Now I have tried tipping him and it hasn't helped yet.

I've read other similar threads and one of the things that comes us is using a cattle prod. Now I have one of those BUT I realise they can be a bit controversial. So rather than make this thread all about my woes (although feel free to give advice!) I thought I would ask what people thought in general of using a prod on a misbehaving buck, and if they had any experience. Thanks!


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## Baymule (Jun 2, 2016)

Welcome to the forum! I don't have goats and can't give you the answer, but you sure came to the right place to get your answers.


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## sarahr (Jun 2, 2016)

Aw, thanks


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## cjc (Jun 2, 2016)

Personally I am against using one but I have never used one so I don't have experience with it. One of the first cattle auctions I went to I was watching a local cattle rancher give crap to an Alberta cattle rancher for prodding his cattle to get them off his truck. The man who was against told me I would never need to use that and a stick with no electric shock would work just as well. Maybe try that? That's what we do with our cattle when we enter the field with the crazy ones. We carry a stick. One small poke on the side with a stick and they go running. I don't know about goats tho...


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## babsbag (Jun 2, 2016)

I don't use them on my bucks but I know people that use them on their rams, they never go in the field without one. I don't think I would be against using one and I bet it doesn't take very many times. Mine respect the hot wire fence just fine. 

The peeing you won't stop, that is their cologne and they love it. Are you keeping him as a breeder or is he a pet?


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## Latestarter (Jun 2, 2016)

Greetings and welcome to BYH @sarahr  When you say you've "tried tipping him"... what exactly do you mean by that? You should get him down on his side and kneel on him/lay on him to keep him there till he submits and stops struggling. Just "tipping" him isn't going to leave the impression you want to leave. And you'll need to do it several times till he gets it through his head that you are the dominant. You didn't say what breed so size/weight is a question, Also, is he disbudded/polled/horned? Never used a prod, but like CJC said, you could try a stick first and if that doesn't work then go to the prod. I'll bet after you've used the prod a couple times a stick will work just fine... When he sees you entering with something in your hands, he'll be real cautious.  Anyway, glad you joined. Share some pics if you will, we all love pics. And make yourself at home!


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## sarahr (Jun 2, 2016)

Thanks guys/gals 

To answer some of your questions he's a Nubian and we are keeping him as a breeder. I'm pretty terrible at estimating weight but he's plenty big enough for me! He's about 10 months old if that helps, and dehorned. I'll try and get some pictures but I'll have to find my camera first!

Interesting to hear no-one so far has ever used a prod. I can certainly give the stick a try but with what I've done so far I can't see it working! He has a pretty severe lack of respect for me. When I've tipped him in the past (which was a struggle) I've tried to hold him down but maybe I haven't been doing it long enough.


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## Baymule (Jun 2, 2016)

If you can't get him to behave, eat him. No animal is worth getting hurt over. And you sure don't want to sell a problem animal that could hurt someone else. You can buy a real nice buck for a lot less than a trip to the emergency room.


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## babsbag (Jun 2, 2016)

I am not really sure if a buck will respond to the dominant thing like a dog would. I had a bottle baby buck that LOVED me too much. And while he never tried to hurt me he was big at the age of three and yes, he would try to mount me too. I would just grab his collar when I went in the field and walk him with me; just never let him get behind me. He was never mean, which was a plus, but annoying all the same.  My new buck wasn't a bottle baby and he isn't afraid of me and lets me catch him, but he doesn't LOVE me either. Not sure that bottle baby bucks are really a good thing. I think I would try the prod.


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## OneFineAcre (Jun 2, 2016)

There is absolutely nothing wrong with using the cattle prod on a Nubian buck 
You better teach him some manners


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## Goat Whisperer (Jun 3, 2016)

I have used a prod with goats and I don't see anything wrong with it. 

I don't use it on mine right now, I don't have any issues with my main bucks. They are gentlemen  The prod is great when feeding or dealing with gate climbers. Usually the sound of shocking a fence post is enough to move them back. 

I actually ended up with a prod after I was needed to care for a meat goat herd. The owned had recently bought a huge New Zealand buck, biggest buck I have ever been around. I told the owner that I'm not dealing with him unless I had a good prod. I could do most care taking thru the fence but when I went in I always had a prod. Thankfully he was a gentle giant. 

I have been taken down before by a different buck mentioned above (not my buck) and it only took a second for this buck  to hook me behind the knees and get me down to the ground and against a post. He was freezer fare anyway. I didn't have the prod with him. 

I purchased a 2 yr old lamancha buck, owner said he was a sweetheart but once I got him it was clear that his affection was not sweet. He would rub his head all over people to mark. Once rut hit it escalated and he was very dangerous. Nobody goes in with him, everything is done from the other side of the fence. When he needs work, he gets tied closely to the fence with several people and usually a dog or 2. His daughters are gorgeous so he is staying for now. Sadly I don't think his owners knew how to read bucks and didn't correct issues early on. 

So try the prod and see how it goes from there. He is young so you may be able to correct his issues. This is why teaching them young makes a big difference. 

Please be careful around him. Try to set a pen up that you can do almost all care they the fence. I know a lady who was almost killed by a Nubian buck. She would have died had nobody been around. She wasn't new to goats either. She's been raising lamancha for over 30 years and will not go in with adult bucks.


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## sarahr (Jun 4, 2016)

Well that's a couple of votes for the prod so I think I will give it a try. I tried the stick method yesterday and I think I could actually see him laughing at me :/

I guess I will start off how I would with cattle, giving him a shock the next couple of times he misbehaves and then I'll see if he starts to respond to just the sound/sight of the prod. 

Funnily enough my daughter, who is also fed up with him, did suggest that a shock to his 'family jewels' would stop his mounting behaviour in it's tracks, but I'm not sure that would be the best idea with a future breeder! Confirm/deny? XD


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## Goat Whisperer (Jun 4, 2016)

I would never want to see someone have a prod and use it irresponsibly. You are the one who has let him get this bad. No absolutely do not shock him there. Use it on the body, not on a very sensitive area. Give a warning first be shocking a gate, post, etc. unless he is actually trying to attack. I don't know how old your daughter is, but I wouldn't let children around him. These animals can be gentle, but some can kill.

It is a powerful shock, you must be responsible and only let your responsible kids shock if needed (still shouldn't be around a dangerous buck…)This is not a toy.


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## sarahr (Jun 4, 2016)

She was joking, sorry if that didn't come across  We use the prods with cattle so we have experience with them. I'll give the warning a go, but personally I've never known an animal to react to the sound without actually being shocked first. After a couple of times they get wise is what usually happens with cows.


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## Pamela (Jul 23, 2016)

I am so glad I found this thread. I am having quite a battle with our herd sire. He is a 3 yr old pure bred Boer. He has really hit his buck groove this summer. I've never had a problem with him until a few weeks ago. We picket him because he is a terrible fence pusher. He was wrapped around his post pretty well and I was trying to get him unwrapped so I could move him to a better spot. As soon as I unhooked his chain from the post, he was trying to take me. I grabbed his horns, and then a horn and a front leg to tip him. Not happening! He is so stocky and strong, I didn't have a chance. I finally was able to get the chain looped around his neck and used it as a choke collar to get him moved. When I got him to his new locale and let go of the choke collar he stomped the crap out of my foot.
I've steered pretty clear since then. My men are all at Scout camp and Bucky got himself tangled on a fence line . I thought I had him distracted and hurriedly tried to untangle him. I wasn't fast enough. He somehow managed to ram his head between my legs and hook his horns on the back of my thigh. I am so glad we took the points off his horns last summer, or I would be in the hospital. I ended up leaving him tangled for the night and had my adult daughters come help me get him better situated this morning. I have one daughter that is 6ft tall and as strong as an ox, so she wrestled with him while we got his chain straightened out and refigured.
I think we will use him for breeding this fall and then probably sell him for slaughter, though it pains me to do so. He is beautiful and throws nice babies.


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## Latestarter (Jul 23, 2016)

Be careful Pam... be very careful. If he gets you down on the ground and you're there by yourself, that could turn out very, very bad.   Glad you called it quits and waited till you had a little help to get him straightened out.


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## Pamela (Jul 23, 2016)

His picket days are over. As soon as we can get a sturdy pen/pasture fence up he will be in it full time. I can't risk him getting loose and taking one of my little kids or grandkids. We are trying to get a meat goat operation going, and he has a big role to play, so I can't eliminate him entirely. However, we will have a better set up before too many more days pass.


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## babsbag (Jul 23, 2016)

Hot hot hot wire. I can't say it enough...HOT WIRE!!!!  My Boer buck could be a snot but he would whimper like a baby when he would hit that fence wire. My fences stay up and intact and all of goats stay in. Get at least a 1 joule charger, make sure you have good ground rods and put the hot wire at  goat knee height. Another at the top is good too. Make so he can't lean or reach over the fence. 

In the meantime, please be careful.


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