# Goat doing weird stuff...



## dhansen (Apr 12, 2012)

My friends's goat keeps arching her head upward and back.  At first I thought she was stretching, but she does it often.  Any ideas?  She is a 1 year old nubian doe.  She was thinking of having her bred, but if this is some strange defect or disease, she may not.


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## PotterWatch (Apr 12, 2012)

One of mine does that all the time, usually when she is trying to show us how upset it makes her that she can't get out of the pen, but sometimes just for the heck of it.


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## pridegoethb4thefall (Apr 12, 2012)

I read once that it is normal behavior. Is your goat hornless? Goats will use their horns to scratch their backs, and I think the hornless ones 'forget' they dont have horns to scratch with, but still go through the motions like they do have horns.

I think the behavior is normal though. Sometimes they are just being silly, sometimes they are looking around, other times they have a bad itch they cant scratch.


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## EggsForIHOP (Apr 13, 2012)

pridegoethb4thefall said:
			
		

> I read once that it is normal behavior. Is your goat hornless? Goats will use their horns to scratch their backs, and I think the hornless ones 'forget' they dont have horns to scratch with, but still go through the motions like they do have horns.
> 
> I think the behavior is normal though. Sometimes they are just being silly, sometimes they are looking around, other times they have a bad itch they cant scratch.


Yup...my husband calls it the "phantom horn pains" because they have an itch they can't scratch without horns...he's a PITA (the husband) always speaking for the goats like he's the Lorax or something...


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## pridegoethb4thefall (Apr 13, 2012)

EggsForIHOP said:
			
		

> pridegoethb4thefall said:
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RIGHT! Are you the one that posted about this before??? If ya are- thank you for that bit of info! I never would have thought of that myself and it makes so much sense.


(lorax......hee hee, that was  )


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## SarahFair (Apr 13, 2012)

pridegoethb4thefall said:
			
		

> I read once that it is normal behavior. Is your goat hornless? Goats will use their horns to scratch their backs, and I think the hornless ones 'forget' they dont have horns to scratch with, but still go through the motions like they do have horns.
> 
> I think the behavior is normal though. Sometimes they are just being silly, sometimes they are looking around, other times they have a bad itch they cant scratch.


Thats what it sounds like to me..


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## Pearce Pastures (Apr 13, 2012)

The goat lorax!   They should make that into a movie---I'd go see it.


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## Mamaboid (Apr 13, 2012)

My Elsie does this all the time, and our preggo Nubie is doing it more often now that she is getting closer to kidding.  Both of these goats are hornless, one disbudded one polled.  None of the horned goats do it that I have seen, so you could very well be on to something here.


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## dhansen (Apr 13, 2012)

Thank you all.  It seemed weird to me, but I am glad it appears "normal".  These goats were not disbudded, but did have the horns banded...which "kind of" worked.


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## DonnaBelle (Apr 13, 2012)

My goat with horns does this arching and throwing her head back.  

She is a giant PITA, she's got the horns baby, and she knows it.  She's the only one in a herd of 20 goats with horns.  In a moment of weakness and dogoodness we took her from a nitwit down the road that was feeding her dogfeed. 

She's an Alpine, her behavior overall is much different from the hornless Nubians.  I don't have an ill tempered Nubian goat, but this Alpine is a witch.  I stay away from her, she likes DH and he can handle her but she needs Prozac.  Sometimes she will come up to me and want her head scratched, other times she wants to kill me, I can see it in her eyes.

No horney goats for me, thank you very much.

DonnaBelle


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## Mamaboid (Apr 13, 2012)

Most of my herd have horns, I only have the two that don't.  I like horns, but you do have to be aware of them.  Mine are very well mannered with them and that makes all the difference in how you feel about them I am sure.  I wouldn't like them either if they wanted to kill me with them. LOL


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## EggsForIHOP (Apr 13, 2012)

pridegoethb4thefall said:
			
		

> EggsForIHOP said:
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Yup...that's our house...kinda odd ball   His new thing is to tell me what they are thinking as I do things like dose for cocci prevention....you know "OH MY GOODNESS MOM! NO NO NO NOT THAT STUFF AGAIN?  Why do you hate me?"  Then he walks around saying very quietly "Why? Oh Why?" and petting on the babies and telling them he "doesn't know what they did to make the bad woman mad again"....like I can't hear him...right there...talking about me...He thinks he's some kind of goat advocate, and all he does is disbud and drink the milk....well...and pay the bills


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## Mamaboid (Apr 13, 2012)




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## goatsintheopen (Apr 13, 2012)

I've got two questions, 

1. What is a "Lorax" ?

2.  What does the Acronym PITA stand for?  

I've never heard of either one..LOL


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## Pearce Pastures (Apr 13, 2012)

goatsintheopen said:
			
		

> I've got two questions,
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> 1. What is a "Lorax" ?
> 
> ...


LOL  
Lorax= character from a Dr. Seuss book...they just made it into a movie too.
PITA=pain in the......


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