# Alpine Personalities???



## Dreaming Of Goats (Feb 8, 2011)

I've heard that they're kind of pushy and do what they want, when they want it. What are your opinions/experiences of alpine goats???


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## Roll farms (Feb 8, 2011)

They can be loud.  Obnoxious (pushy).  Jump / climb walls.

I've seen some beautiful ones...but I'll never buy one.


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## Ariel301 (Feb 8, 2011)

The only one I have owned was a buck. He was bottle raised by myself, and as sweet as could be until he hit 18 months. He was stubborn and pushy though, and never got good at being led, he would either drag me or make me drag him, depending on where we were going. Then he turned downright nasty and unpredictable. He'd be rubbing his head against my hip one minute and the next minute I'd be on the ground with him standing on my chest. He tore up fencing, tore up feeders, tore up shelters, put some dents in my horse trailer, broke tie ropes when I ended up having to tether him to a post for a couple of months before I could get someone to butcher him...and when he went to butcher, he ripped a gate off a pen and beat up another buck. 

I won't own another. I know there are plenty of nice ones, my neighbor has a buck with 5-foot long horns and several does and they are all super nice and sweet. I just prefer my LaManchas.


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## Mea (Feb 9, 2011)

Dreaming Of Goats said:
			
		

> I've heard that they're kind of pushy and do what they want, when they want it. What are your opinions/experiences of alpine goats???


Strong willed !!  Adament !!!  Loving !!! Curious !!!

  The ones we used to have were all of those things.  One doe, who was my son's special 'pet', would curl up in his lap....even After she was full grown. Funny to see....    The herd Queen Never, Ever let the others forget Her rank !     They can fill a milk pail with good milk.   I enjoyed the variety of colors and patterns that we would get.    If i did not have my Nubians now... iwould most likely have Alpines.


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## ksalvagno (Feb 9, 2011)

I have an Alpine but I don't think she is a full Alpine. Because I have Nigerians other than her, she is in charge. She is a very nice girl that loves attention but you can bet she gets her way with the other goats. She can be pushy but it has always been manageable for me.


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## julieq (Feb 9, 2011)

Dreaming Of Goats said:
			
		

> I've heard that they're kind of pushy and do what they want, when they want it.


That would pretty much describe most of the goats in our barn!  Seriously, we raised Alpines for awhile and found them to be of about the same temperament as our Nubians or our ND's and miniatures.  Although of course the Nubians were way louder   But we found we liked the higher butterfat milk of the Nubians or ND's.


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## warthog (Feb 9, 2011)

All mine are mutts but have alpine in them.  They are all sweet and loving, but can be pushy and noisy at times one of them literally screams anyone would think she was being slaughtered.  the two that I have bred have made wonderful mothers, and if I had wished I could have had plenty of milk from them.


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## rebelINny (Feb 9, 2011)

Let's see all I have is Alpine or Alpine crosses..........They are pushy to some degree but I haven't met a goat that isn't to some extent. Some are and some aren't. They are strong so if you are small you may want a smaller goat. I have my Alp does trained. When they are milking I can open the stall door (there will be four or five in a stall together), the first will come out without me holding her and go to the milk stand and jump up, put her head in and wait for grain. I lock her in give her grain, milk her, unlock her. She gets down and goes back to her stall with no help from  me. Then I do the same thing until all four or five does are milked and YES they go in turn and no who's turn it is  They are awesome when milking!! They are like a well-trained dog  I have a couple that will jump a short fence but usually if there is plenty of browse and they aren't hungry they don't bother.


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Feb 10, 2011)

Thanks for all of the responses!!! And, even though I'm a kid, I HATE miniature goats... (No affense!!!!)

RebelINny---- I SO want one of your chocolate and white alpines, that's part of the reason why I asked, LOL


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## LadyNai (Feb 11, 2011)

I've been around Alpines most of my life (I'm 31 now and my parents started raising goats when I was 3 or 4 - we have gotten rid of them on and off but went back to them recently. )  and I disagree.

We had nubians at one point and I found them to be the LOUDEST most obnoxious creatures.   Demanding and pushy.   LaManchas I love but I'm waiting to get another.

We do have a few pushy alpines in our herd, our herd queen is a domineering beast with the other goats but is fine with us.   And our "Caprine Drama Queen" as we call Emma is a good milker, loud about wanting food RIGHT NOW but she's good.

Really it's like any person it's very individual.   Our Suzy will come to me and try to nibble on the tassels on my hat and demand scratches as will Emma.   But Birdie (our herd queen) gives you this look like she's above it all.

I LIKE Alpines, they give a great amount of different colors and they're very good dairy goats.


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## PattySh (Feb 11, 2011)

I think it depends on the goat not the breed, the temperament it's parents had and how it's raised. I have alpines and alpine Xs they were  bottle babies and as adults are very sweet. My pushiest goat is a Nigerian Dwarf, honestly she's terrible (bold, pushy,hard to handle,  mean(at times) to other goats) but she's older and my daughter's! I am truly not attached to her.  I   "inherited" a few weeks ago an alpine/nubian wether tho bottlefed , is a holy terror and jumps over fences, gates, pushes me, bunts my goats hard etc. totally out of control and HUGE. He is a spoiled baby (2 yrs old) raised only by a young child (now 12)and allowed to run wild. He showed 4H and novelty of feeding goats in winter faded away quickly and they got no attention. I am not sure tho if this is the total reason for how "wild" he is because on doing some research he was born at a cheese making dairy which  on purpose chose the most outgoing bold goats to venture further from the barn to browse naturally. This guy browsed down his maple syrup tubing.  I'm sure boldness can be a "family trait". He is here to be put into the freezer (after tomorrow it will again be calm in the barn) with full disclosure to his past owner who begged me to take 2 goats off his hands. I also adopted the 2 yr old doe they had, his companion who I am hoping will be ok once he is gone as she is much milder in temperament(sweet but a bit timid) and seems a bit afraid of him too. She is nice and we'll see if she will fit in and become one of our milking does. As for noise our loudest goat right now is  Edy a Nigerian/alpine/toggX doeling VERY LOUD(bold like her mother too) but very cute! My friend's loudest by far is a lamancha and they are supposed to be quiet. My nubians when content are quiet, when aggitated they might get a bit noisy. My Alpines and AlpineXs are pretty quiet except Edy.


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