# Help- dangerous situation with introducing new goats



## Wannatryitall

So, I posted a few days ago for the first time regarding two new goats that I was bringing home to add to our 2 existing goats.  We got them home and they are not nearly as tame as our two existing bottle girls (which is what we expected).  So we have been keeping them in seperate shelters and letting our existing girls "meet" them over the half door.  Today, we decided to open the door up and let our old girls enter and meet our new girls in the barn where the newbies are being kept.  The new ones just hid in the corner as one of our old girls (who has been a little bossy lately as it is) walked up and sniffed them and then proceeded to place her head under one of their bellies and pull her head up hard and bash into the sides of them (she has long, pointy horns).  Geesh it was scary so I seperated them once again.  What do I do?  We went round and round about getting them polled, but couldn't find a vet that would do it and now it's way too late.  Is she trying to kill them?  My husband wants to get rid of her as she is also the one who constantly jumps over or through our electric fence just to follow us back to our house. The other old girl is as sweet as a puppy, but we bottle fed them both and I don't want to part with either.  We would eventually like to start a herd so there will be babies and others coming home.  Is this a normal behavior?  Could she actually gore them (besides the fact that I LOVE my animals, they were expensive girls)?  Any tips on how to make this go more smoothly?  I am even contemplating duck taping her horns so they aren't so sharp....trust me I am racking my brain here to figure out a solution. Any help is very much appreciated!!!


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## Fluffygal

Any introduction of any new critter can be hairy when introducing to the existing critters.

The old members will make sure the new guys are put in place as a new order has to be worked out. And yes there will be some roughness. Just keep an eye on them and if need be seperate if things get too rough. 

Are the new goats horned or dehorned? Horned goats know when they have the upper hand and will pick on the dehorned ones. When introducing them make sure the more timid goats have the space to get out of the way. If they are in a small space to were they can be corned they could get hurt in the bulling. 

The introduction can take awhile but eventually things will settle and everyone will have their new spot in the herd once the pecking order is established.


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## Blackhereford boy

Fluffygal said:
			
		

> Any introduction of any new critter can be hairy when introducing to the existing critters.
> 
> The old members will make sure the new guys are put in place as a new order has to be worked out. And yes there will be some roughness. Just keep an eye on them and if need be seperate if things get too rough.
> 
> Are the new goats horned or dehorned? Horned goats know when they have the upper hand and will pick on the dehorned ones. When introducing them make sure the more timid goats have the space to get out of the way. If they are in a small space to were they can be corned they could get hurt in the bulling.
> 
> The introduction can take awhile but eventually things will settle and everyone will have their new spot in the herd once the pecking order is established.


x2 and u can get some of those pool noodles to put on her horns to make it a little safer


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## Wannatryitall

They are all horned, but the new girls are a few months younger and quite a bit smaller then the first girls we bought.  The newbies are Boer and the oldies, Alpine.  It makes sense to bring them out of the barn to meet so that they aren't cornered.  However, I fear that if we let them out they might get chased right through the fence.  We have four strand electric polytape with 2 strands of barbed wire (we have a very woodsy, uneven terrain acre to fence). Oh, I think I worry too much, but if the new girls get out I don't know how we'll catch them as I said they are not nearly as friendly.  I spent 2 hours sitting in their stall yesterday trying to get them used to me and the sound of my voice and they still will not approach me.  

I am going to try the pool noodles, sounds so silly and I'm sure it will look pretty funny too, but it's genius!  Maybe I'll share a pick so we can all get a chuckle if everyone survives   Thanks for the suggestions!


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## Catahoula

Wannatryitall said:
			
		

> They are all horned, but the new girls are a few months younger and quite a bit smaller then the first girls we bought.  The newbies are Boer and the oldies, Alpine.  It makes sense to bring them out of the barn to meet so that they aren't cornered.  However, I fear that if we let them out they might get chased right through the fence.  We have four strand electric polytape with 2 strands of barbed wire (we have a very woodsy, uneven terrain acre to fence). Oh, I think I worry too much, but if the new girls get out I don't know how we'll catch them as I said they are not nearly as friendly.  I spent 2 hours sitting in their stall yesterday trying to get them used to me and the sound of my voice and they still will not approach me.
> 
> I am going to try the pool noodles, sounds so silly and I'm sure it will look pretty funny too, but it's genius!  Maybe I'll share a pick so we can all get a chuckle if everyone survives   Thanks for the suggestions!


Good Luck and please let me know your progress. I have two boer wethers now and will be adding two slightly younger alpines (wether and doe) in about 6 weeks. The boers are 6 months old and the alpines are 4.5 months old. I really don't know what to expect but they will have separate sleeping and eating quarters at least for a few weeks. After the alpines settle in, I plan to let them out in a smaller pen to mingle with the boers. We are working on the new goat area...that's why the kids can't come home yet.   All the kids are dehorned but the boers are growing scurs...


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## 20kidsonhill

Have you blunted the ends of her horns, by cutting them off so they are about dime sized at the ends and then sanding them down? can't cut too much off or they will bleed, You just want to cut 1/2" or maybe an 1" off so the tip isn't so sharp.  Or you can try attaching tennis balls onto the ends to make them safer. 

This is very common behavior and your new members in the herd have to learn their place.  When intruducing new members to the herd, you need to provide adequate space for them to lay and be safe, adequate spacing for feeders so everyone can eat. I find it helps to lock up the new comers every night, and provide them their own feed through out the night, so you are sure they are getting enough and have a safe/dry place to sleep.


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## breezy B ranch

Part of it may be that the "oldies" are Alpines. We have one (oreo)  and we are having problems with her ever accepting any new does. She is ok with bucklings and wethers but NO females. She is now in her own pen with a wether. The pens are connected by a fence and she will still try and ram the others trough the fence. This is not new either we have had one of our newest doe for over 6 mo now and they just cant get along with Oreo. Recently we got another doe and same thing . Our Saanen did the I'm the queen and has settled down with the new girl but the Alpine is just plane not having it.   Everything I have read has said that Alpines tend to be bullies. I may be wrong but this is what I found out doing research about different breeds.


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## 20kidsonhill

I have two adult Boer does that I purchased in 2011 and after almost 2 years they still aren't accepted into the herd, I still have to baby them and still have to pen them up at night in the winter separate from the rest of the herd or with younger goats so they aren't picked on. They were adults when I brought them home. My herd is relentless with them. You just have to adjust and accomodate as you change the dynamics of your herd and it is a lot more difficult if you have a smaller property.


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## Wannatryitall

Well, so far so good.  (ahh, I hate saying that because I know I'm jinxing myself).  The crew played (mostly ate) together with supervision for a few hours last night and mainly kept to themselves.  Surprisingly, it wasn't the original culprit that bothered the new girls, it was my sweet little puppy goat.  She wasn't actually hurting them, just seemed to be trying to establish herself every once in awhile.  They are still being kept seperate to sleep, but all in all not too shabby.  Oh, and we used the pool noodles on their horns which gave me peace of mind for sure.  Not to mention it makes the alpines look like tribal women with baskets on their heads-hilarious!  Thanks for all the tips and pointers and basically just teaching me to relax a little, I can't prevent all conflict all the time-hard lesson to adapt to!


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## LadyIsabelle2011

I remember when I first got camellia. I had bought her to be a companion to my other goat Isabelle who had been a lonely only for a few months. I thought Isabelle would be thrilled to have another goat to spend time with, boy was I wrong. She started whaling on the little goat any chance she got (luckily she had no horns). It scared the life out of me because it really did look like she was trying to kill her  . What made things even more difficult was that Isabelle was very jealous of my time. Anytime I would try to handle the camellia Isabelle would started whinning and take a pot shot at her. It took quiet awhile before the two would accept each others presence but somewhere along the lines they worked things out. Now they are inseparable  but Camelia is still fairly wary of being around me :/


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## ladyh

Wannatryitall said:
			
		

> They are all horned, but the new girls are a few months younger and quite a bit smaller then the first girls we bought.  The newbies are Boer and the oldies, Alpine.  It makes sense to bring them out of the barn to meet so that they aren't cornered.  However, I fear that if we let them out they might get chased right through the fence.  We have four strand electric polytape with 2 strands of barbed wire (we have a very woodsy, uneven terrain acre to fence). Oh, I think I worry too much, but if the new girls get out I don't know how we'll catch them as I said they are not nearly as friendly.  I spent 2 hours sitting in their stall yesterday trying to get them used to me and the sound of my voice and they still will not approach me.
> 
> I am going to try the pool noodles, sounds so silly and I'm sure it will look pretty funny too, but it's genius!  Maybe I'll share a pick so we can all get a chuckle if everyone survives   Thanks for the suggestions!


I've tried them all, the last was washing machine hose, which fit over my wether's horns.  But with their head butting, it all comes off. I've given up. I even ducked taped the washing machine hose, but even with their "play head butting" it comes off.


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## Catahoula

How are all the goats doing now? I has been almost two weeks since I added my Alpines. To my surprise, the new goats are picking on one of my old one. The first few nights they were 'beating' up on my Walter. There are still a lot of shoveling and pushing around but mostly around meal time. The rest of the day, they all go out an browse together. 
Hope yours are doing well too.


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